Campers bid Aloha, but Olympic memories linger (photos attached)

Updated：2007-08-16

(BEIJING, August 14) -- Aloha.

More than 300 students from around the world bid a tearful goodbye at Beijing No. 80 High School as the 2007 Good Luck Beijing Summer Camp drew to a memorable close.

International campers will not forget their good times in the Olympic City and no doubt they will tell their schoolmates, friends and family members about their China experience and prepare to meet again in the crossroads of the East.

Campers thanked the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the Media and Communications Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and wished the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games a resounding success.

During their four-day stay in China's Olympic City, the young campers attended some Good Luck Beijing sport events, toured the city's scenic spots and cultural relics and spent one day as guests in ordinary Beijing families. Campers participated in games, showed off typical products from their native countries, felt the charm of the Olympic host city and experienced the preparatory efforts underway for next year's Olympics.

Greek and Chinese students sing Greek songs as the camp draws to an end.

Greek and Chinese students sing Greek songs as the camp draws to an end.

Saying good-bye is difficult.

The campers watch 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships on August 11.

The campers cheer for Slovenian athletes at 2007 World rowing Junior Championships.

Focusing on the Bird's Nest

The campers visit Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall.

Norwegian students pose for a picture in front of the board marking the countdown to the 29th Olympics.

On August 13, the campers ascend Great Wall

Campers tour Chinese Ethnic Culture Park.

Campers learn how to make dumpling at a Beijing family.

Egyptian students in a mini fashion show.

Campers wear tee-shirts with signatures.

Good Luck Beijing summer camp closes (photos attached)

Updated：2007-08-15

(BEIJING, August 14) -- The four-day summer camp of the 2007 Good Luck Beijing sport events drew to an end on Tuesday and the participants were excited about their experience in the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Over 300 students and teachers from 17 countries and regions spent an unforgettable time in Beijing.

On Tuesday evening, they treated each other to a wonderful performance in which they displayed their artistic gifts. The songs of the Beijing June 1 Elementary School Choir and the dances of the Kenyan and Congo students drew peals of applause from the audience, in which there were many fellow campers.

Calligraphy works, Chinese paintings, clay figurines, paper-cutting pieces, instantly-made kites and many other traditional handicrafts made by local students impressed the visitors from afar.

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Earlier in the morning, the campers ascended the Badaling section of Great Wall. A "mini-expo" brought together the art works and other typical things of the participants. African students showed beautiful sculptures of African giraffes and hippopotamuses, while costumes of Indian students delighted the eyes.

Beijing Hujialou Central Elementary School passed on its skills of waving auspicious Chinese knots to its Spanish partner school, and visitors from Riga Mezciema Elementary School of Latvia learnt martial arts from their counterparts of Hongzhi High School.

Olympic Clay Target Field ready (photos attached)

Updated：2007-08-17

(BEIJING, August 16) -- The Clay Target Field (CTF) has been delivered to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

Located at Shijingshan District in west Beijing, the venue will produce five gold medals in clay target competitions, including men's trap, women's trap, men's double trap, men's skeet and women's skeet.

The 2008 shooting program will have three events: rifle, pistol and clay target.

Olympic competition begins August 9 through 17, 2008 as shooters will vie for a total of 15 gold medals.

Shooting first appeared as an Olympic sport in 1896. Women were first allowed to compete in 1968, when Mexico, Peru and Poland entered one female contestant each. In 1984, the International Shooting Federation introduced separate events for women. Between 1984 and 1992, the number of women's events has gradually increased.

In addition, several of the events on the program remained open to both men and women. Since the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, men's events have been separated from women's.

Bird's eye view of CTF from its stands

Starting point decorated after the model of Great Wall

Clay target storage

CTF stand

Workers are weeding the lawn.

Olympic ticketing policies expounded

Updated：2007-08-02

(BEIJING, August 1) -- In an exclusive interview with the official website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games recently, Rong Jun, director of BOCOG Ticketing Center explained in detail the policies and procedures of ticket sale for the Games.

Payment for the first phase to be completed in September

The first phase of the ticketing process was featured by public application and lottery distribution.

The major part of the first phase wound up on June 30, when over 700,000 orders for more than five million tickets were submitted, which showed the wide interest and enthusiasm for the Olympics?

The second part of the first phase will take place in July and August. During this period, the orders will be analyzed and checked. BOCOG is expected to start the process of lottery and allocation in early August. The results will be released to the public and those who are confirmed as successful buyers will be notified through email or post. If they pay within a required time, they will finally receive their tickets.

There will be an open and fair lottery

During the first phase, any events that are oversubscribed will be subject to a lottery to decide the distribution of the tickets. This is in line with the practice of recent Olympic Games. The Beijing Olympics have been attracting much attention and the lottery process is seen as a good way to ensure an open, fair and transparent distribution of tickets

The booking data undoubtedly call for a lottery to distribute the tickets of the opening and closing ceremonies and other "hot" events. Furthermore, the lottery process shall not only target a certain event or a competition, but also specifically priced tickets. For instance, the tickets for specific seats of the opening ceremony shall be categorized to ensure their fair distribution.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) will invite supervisors and third party notaries to witness the process, and the media will also be given an opportunity to record it.

The second phase begins in October

During the second phase, which begins in October, the ticketing principle is "First Come, First Served". The public can make bookings on line, contact BOCOG Call Center (952008) or book through the designated outlets of the Bank of China, which number over 1,000 across the country.

The Call Center, launched in March, will sell tickets from the beginning of October. Payment will be made through VISA Card. Non-VISA-Card-holders must go to Bank of China outlets to make payment. BOCOG will keep their orders for 48 hours. After that, the computer system will automatically cancel the order.

During the third phase, on-site ticketing will be launched in April 2008 to sell the remaining tickets.

Tickets can be available in June or July

The tickets booked during the first two phases are expected to be delivered to buyers in June or July next year. As most of the Olympic venues will be completed by the end of this year, the staff of the BOCOG Ticketing Center will go to every venue to check the exact seats and allocate the bookings. Then they will forward the data to the ticket printers, who are expected to print them out between April and June. That means that in June and July all effectively subscribed tickets will reach their buyers. The designated outlets of the Bank of China will be the only places where the tickets can be obtained faultlessly.

Ticket design under way

The design of the Olympic tickets is under way. Their look will be in line with the general image of the Olympic Games. The tickets show not only where the spectators will be seated, but also the sport pictograms to indicate the competitions they will watch.

The false proof technologies used make the tickets unique collection objects. The name of the spectator will be printed on the tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, making them personalized and collectable.

2007 FIVB World Grand Prix to kick off on August 3 (photo attached)

Updated：2007-08-01

The 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix is scheduled to kick off on this Friday, the 3th of August,2007. The first three Pools of the preliminary will be held in three destinations of Tokyo (Japan), Verona (Italy) and Rzeszow (Poland).

Friday 3rd August is the D-Day: twelve of the world strongest Women's teams will start to compete for the 2007 FIVB World Grand Prix, a unique annual showcase for Women's Volleyball, which will end with a Final Round in Ningbo, China, from 22nd to 26th of August. With three gold medals in a row (2004/2006) and other three first places in '94, '96 and '98, Brazil is the top squad of the tournament and will start its journey from Italy.

The 2007 World Grand Prix lasts for 4 weeks with a total of 65 matches. During the first, second and third weeks each team will play 9 matches in total. Preliminary rounds will be organized in Japan, Italy, Poland, Macau, Hong Kong, Taipei, Russia and Chinese Taipei. Classification in the preliminary rounds is decided by the number of points gained by the teams participating in the same group. The classification in the general ranking of the preliminary rounds of the 2007 WGP is decided by the total number of World Grand Prix Points (GPP) gained by the teams in the preliminary matches. The host team China plus the top five ranked teams after the preliminary rounds will qualify to play in Ningbo over 5 days (15 matches) with a round robin system to decide the 2007 World Grand Prix Champion.

World Champion Ekaterina Gamova. Russia will start its World Grand Prix in Poland

Tokyo (Japan), Verona (Italy) and Rzeszow (Poland) will host the first three Pools from Friday to Sunday 5th August. The Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo is hosting Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan and Kazakhstan for Pool A. The PalaOlimpia in Verona will welcome Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Italy and the Netherlands for Pool B. Pool C with China, Poland, Russia and the U.S.A. is going to play in Na Podpromium in the Polish city of Rzeszow.

The second weekend (10th - 12th August) is scheduled in Tokyo, Japan (Pool D: Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Netherlands), in Khabarovsk, Russia (Pool E: Cuba, Kazakhstan, Russia, U.S.A.) and in Hong Kong, China (Pool F: China, Dominican Republic, Italy, Poland).

The third weekend (17th - 19th August) is foreseeing in Osaka, Japan (Pool G: Japan, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia), in Taipei, Chinese Taipei (Pool H: Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Dominican Republic, Italy) and in Macau (Pool I: China, Cuba, Netherlands, U.S.A.).

(Credit: FIVB. Click here for further information.)