Leaving a Legacy

Source: Insight
By: Justin Chan

The Beijing government continues to build, clean and educate the city to make an outstanding impression on the world during the 2008 Olympic Games.

With less than one year until the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the world's eyes are zeroing in on Beijing. The Chinese government is undertaking development and preparations for the Games at a breakneck pace, with hopes of proving to the world that over the past 30 years, China has moved from being a small player to a global leader.

"The Chinese see the Olympic venue in much the same way as previous hosts have sought to use it to showcase their emergent power," says U.S.-based China scholar Dr. Charles Desnoyers. This is the country’s chance to showcase its achievements in infrastructure development and environmental stewardship, among other things, resulting from years of double-digit economic growth. It is also China’s first opportunity to engage in cultural exchange with the rest of the world on such a large scale.

The pressure is on as the magical date of August 8, 2008 creeps up, but officials are confident in China's ability to get the job done. The Beijing Organizing Committee (BOCOG) has budgeted more than $40 billion for a makeover of China’s capital city ?including new subways, roads and parks, in addition to breathtaking new Olympic venues.

“Beijing and China will not only host a successful Games for the world’s premier athletes, but will also provide an excellent opportunity to discover China, its history, its culture and its people, with China opening itself to the world in new ways,?International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge said at a ceremony this summer commemorating the one-year countdown.

“Through the Olympic Games, the government wants to show people that the nation is prosperous, stable and harmonious, and that the ruling party is capable,?said Hu Xindou, an economist at the Beijing Institute of Technology, to state media.

The positive attitude is catalyzing development and change in Beijing, a city rich in history that is now eager to signal its arrival as a modern metropolis. " think this is China's coming out party to the world," says Robert Tuchman, founder and CEO of U.S.-based sports hospitality and marketing firm TSE Sports & Entertainment. "Beijing is way ahead of the curve on preparation and structure [compared to] many of the past Olympic Games."