Olympics

In August 2008, the capital of China, Beijing, held the Summer Olympics. 

“The world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world,” said the President of the Olympics about the 2008 Beijing Games in the closing ceremony. 

77 Olympic records were broken and 37 World records were broken.

The main Olympic stadium on the Olympic Green looks like a Bird's Nest.  It hosted the football (soccer) and the athletics. It is made of concrete and seats 80,000 people.  The National Aquatics center is also on the green and is sometimes called the Water Cube. The center was the venue for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water-polo. Like the Bird's Nest it looks very different. The outside of the building is covered with a special membrane. The special EFTE plastic pillows let in more light and saves energy helping the Green Future of China.  

The official logo of the games called Dancing Beijing looks like the one of the Chinese characters jīng (京) which means capital. The Beijing Olympic slogan was One World, One Dream- 同一个世界 同一个梦想. It was chosen from 210,000 entries into a competition. China hopes the Olympics will help people learn about China and make the world a happier in the future by uniting all the different countries. Chinese children learn English to help out at the games. They learn English knowing also about the Olympics in
London in 2012.

The five mascots of the Beijing Games are called Fúwá which means Good Luck dolls. Bèibei (贝贝) is a blue fish. She represents all the water sports of the games and the blue Olympic ring. Jīngjing (晶晶) is a giant panda. He represents weightlifting and judo and the black Olympic ring. Giant pandas are an endangered species. Huānhuan (欢欢) is an animal with a flame. He represents the Olympic torch and the Olympic motto higher, faster stronger and the red Olympic ring. Yíngying (迎迎) is an antelope from the Tibetan region of China. He represents all the track and field events and the yellow ring of the Olympics. His headgear and dress is inspired by traditional Tibetan costumes. Tibetan antelopes are an endangered species. Nīni (妮妮) is a green swallow. Her headgear looks like a swallow kite. The Chinese character for swallow (燕) is like the character for an old name for
Beijing (燕京), She represents the green ring of the Olympics. 

Chinese names are always made up of two or three characters. Sometimes the same character is repeated as for these mascots.

American Michael Phelps won eight gold medals. 40 million people in
America watched him swim.

Jamaican Usain Bolt, who had his birthday during the Olympics won the 100, 200 and 400 metres relay. Breaking records and winning 3 golds. In Jamaica people danced in the streets to celebrate.

In China there are 1.3 billion people (1 300 000 000). Over 1 billion Chinese people watched the Olympics. In Jamaica there are 2.8 million (2 800 000) people.

China won more gold medals than any other country, but
Liu Xiang, China's most famous Olympic athlete, was injured and could not compete in the 110 hurdles.

The opening and closing ceremonies were spectacular. Full of fireworks that were invented in China. Fireworks are a traditional Chinese invention.

During the Olympics, on some days the pollution levels was worse than it should be, other days it was OK. Pollution and Going Green is a big thing in China.

Science and Technology at the Games included amazing new swim suits and ultrasound machines that could be taken to the athletes rather than taking the athletes to the hospital to check for injuries.