同一个世界同一个梦想 (One World, One Dream. The "Dancing Beijing" emblem, depicting a Chinese seal inscribed with the character "Jīng" (京, from the name of the
host city) in the form of a dancing figure.
The official emblem of Beijing 2008 entitled "Chinese Seal-Dancing Beijing" cleverly combines the Chinese seal and the art of calligraphy with sporting features, transforming the elements into a human figure running forward and embracing triumph. The figure resembles the Chinese character "Jing", which stands for the name of the host city and represents a particularly significant Chinese style. The artwork embodies four messages:
- Chinese culture,
- the color of red China
- Beijing welcomes friends from all over the world
- to challenge the extreme and achieve the perfect and promote the Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger).
2008年奥运会的会徽正式发布。会徽由成龙和邓亚萍共同捧出。是次奥运的会徽名为“中国印．舞动的北京”，将中国印、汉字“京”与奥运五环结合在一起，演变而成。当中白色的线条象征了一个正在运动的人。而就一般视觉美术而言，变异后的“京”字像个奔跑的人形，贴切地将北京和奥运会联系在一起，人形张开的双手也可视为“北京欢迎你”的象征。同时，“京”字也像个“文”字，寓意“人文奥运”。
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will be celebrated in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008.
The 29th Beijing Olympic Games is being held in the capital of The People Republic of China from 08-08- 2008 to 24-08-2008. The open ceremony will be opened by the President Hu Jintao at 8:00 pm (Beijing Time) on 08-08-2008.
第二十九届奥林匹克运动会（英文官方名称：the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Beijing 2008[2]），2008年8月8日至24日将于中华人民共和国首都北京举行，开幕仪式定于2008年8月8日晚上8时正[3][注 2]。此届奥运会是中国首次举办夏季奥运会，亦是继1964年东京奥运会和1988年汉城奥运会（注：汉城今称首尔）后，夏季奥运会再一次在亚洲国家举行。
大部份比赛项目均在北京举行，上海、天津、沈阳、秦皇岛将承办足球项目，而帆船比赛项目将由青岛承办[4]。2005年7月8日，在新加坡举行的国际奥林匹克委员会第117次全会上，决定由香港协办2008年奥运马术项目，是奥运历史上第二次由不同地区的奥委会承办
The slogan for the 2008 Olympics is "One World, One Dream" ( 同一个世界 同一个梦想 pinyin : Tóng Yíge Shìjiè Tóng Yíge Mèngxiǎng.) The slogan calls upon the whole world to join in the Olympic spirit and build a better future for humanity. It was chosen from over 210,000 entries submitted from around the world.
此届奥运会口号，共有20,161份参赛作品，当中包括了中文、英语、法语等多国语言[16]。2005年6月26日，此次奥运会的主题口号正式公布：同一个世界，同一个梦想（英语：One World, One Dream）。北京奥委会解释口号[17][18]：
集中体现了奥林匹克精神的实质和普遍价值观——团结、友谊、进步、和谐、参与和梦想，表达了全世界在奥林匹克精神的感召下，追求人类美好未来的共同愿望
深刻反映了北京奥运会的核心理念，体现了作为“绿色奥运、科技奥运、人文奥运”三大理念的核心和灵魂的人文奥运所蕴含的和谐的价值观。
英语口号“One World, One Dream”句法结构具有鲜明特色。两个“One”形成对偶，“World”和“Dream”前后呼应，整句口号简洁、响亮，寓意深远，既易记上口，又便于传播。
The opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing will be held in the Beijing National Stadium, and begin at 8:00pm CST (12:00 UTC) on 8 August 2008.
Host city: Beijing, China
Nations participating: 205 NOCs
Athletes participating: aroung 10,500
Events: 302 in 28 sports
Opening ceremony: August 8, 2008
Closing ceremony: August 24
Officially opened by: President Hu Jintao
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Song in English - theme for Beijing Olympic 2008 One World One Dream (Thank you and credits to mrjiefang Channel)
Video clips of 北京欢迎你 - Beijing Welcomes You 现场版 (Thank you and credits to nicholasshang Channel)
Video clips We Are Ready 粵語版 Cantonese Version(奧運倒計時200日 全民健身迎奧運現場)- (Thank you and credits to panasonichk Channel)
Video clips of Various Artists - Beijing Welcomes You 北京欢迎你 with lyrics - mandarin/phin yin and translation to english lyrics
(Thank you and credits to WeiFanggg Channel for the video clips)
The five mascots are officially called the Fuwa. They are Beibei, the fish; Jingjing, the panda; Huanhuan, the Olympic flame; Yingying, the Tibetan antelope; and Nini, the swallow.
The first syllables from their two-syllable names form a line that reads "Beijing Huanying Ni", or in English – "Welcome to Beijing". The mascot’s colours were chosen in line with the colours of the Olympic rings.
In the ancient culture of China, there is a great tradition of spreading blessings through signs and symbols. Each of the mascots symbolises a different blessing and will honour this ancient tradition by bringing their blessings to the children of the world. Beibei represents the blessing of prosperity, Jingjing the blessing of happiness, Huanhuan the blessing of passion, Yingying the blessing of health and Nini the blessing of good luck.
吉祥物由2004年开始征集设计方案，最初是以孙悟空等成为大热[12][13]。2005年11月12日，北京举行了“北京2008奥运会吉祥物发布暨倒计时1000天”活动，公布了2008年夏季奥林匹克运动会吉祥物为福娃。[14]他们由五个形象组成，分别是：贝贝（鲤鱼形象）、晶晶（大熊猫形象）、欢欢（奥林匹克圣火形象）、迎迎（藏羚羊形象）、妮妮（北京燕子风筝形象），是“北京欢迎你”的谐音，其颜色也是奥运五环的颜色。
Calendar for the 2008 Olympic Games events taken place on August 8, 2008 onwards to August 24, 2008.
Each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport are held. Each bullet in these boxes is an event final, the number of bullets per box representing the number of finals that will be contested on that day.
A map of the Olympic venues in Beijing. Several expressways encircle the center of the city, providing for quick transportation around the city and between venues.
The following are the sports to be contested at these Games during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games from 8 to 24, August 2008. The number of events to be contested in each sport is indicated in parentheses.
Aquatics
Diving (8)
Swimming (34)
Synchronized swimming (2)
Water polo (2)
Archery (4)
Athletics (47)
Badminton (5)
Baseball (1)
Basketball (2)
Boxing (11)
Canoeing (16)
Cycling (18)
Equestrian (6)
Fencing (10)
Field hockey (2)
Football (2)
Gymnastics (18)
Handball (2)
Judo (14)
Modern pentathlon (2)
Rowing (14)
Sailing (11)
Shooting (15)
Softball (1)
Table tennis (4)
Taekwondo (8)
Tennis (4)
Triathlon (2)
Volleyball (4)
Weightlifting (15)
Wrestling (18)
Medals of the 2008 Summer Olympics: silver (left), gold (center), bronze (right)
For the first time jade is used for the Beijing Olympic medals. The medals have been designed with inspiration coming from "bi", China's ancient jade piece inscribed with a dragon pattern.
The medals symbolise nobility and virtue and are the embodiment of traditional Chinese values of ethics and honour, emitting a strong Chinese flavour. The winners’ medal is made of gold weighing not less than six grammes each. The medal for the runner-up is made of pure silver.
Noble and elegant, the medals are a blending of traditional Chinese culture and Olympism. On their obverse side, the medals reflect the Greek character of the Olympic Games: the goddess of victory Nike pictured in the Panathinaikos Stadium. While on their reverse side, the medals are inlaid with jade with the Beijing Games emblem engraved in the metal centrepiece.
The design inspiration of the medal hook derives from jade "huang", a ceremonial jade piece decorated with a double dragon pattern and "Pu", the reed mat pattern.
The centrepiece of the 2008 Summer Olympics will be the Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the "Bird nest" because of its nest-like skeletal structure. Construction of the venue began on December 24, 2003. The Guangdong Olympic Stadium was originally planned, constructed, and completed in 2001 for the Games, but a decision was made to construct a new stadium in Beijing.Government officials engaged architects worldwide in a design competition.
A Swiss firm, Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG, collaborated with China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. The stadium features a lattice-like concrete skeleton forming the stadium bowl and will have a seating capacity of over 90,000 people during the Olympics. Architects originally described the overall design as resembling a bird nest with an immense ocular—an opening with a retractable roof over the stadium.
However, in 2004, the idea of retractable roof was abandoned for economic and safety reasons. The Beijing National Stadium will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics events and soccer finals. The stadium's designer Ai Weiwei has since withdrawn his support for China's Olympic games, saying "he wants nothing to do with them anymore".
Most recently, the Beijing Olympic Village opened on July 16, 2008 and to the public on July 26, 2008.
The Beijing National Aquatics Center (traditional Chinese: 北京國家游泳中心; simplified Chinese: 北京国家游泳中心), also known as the Water Cube (水立方) or abbreviated [H2O]3, is an aquatics center that was built alongside Beijing National Stadium in the Olympic Green for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Ground was broken on December 24, 2003.
Looking east, past the national aquatics center and towards the national stadium.
The Water Cube was initially designed by PTW Architects (an Australia Architectural company) , CSCEC International Design and Arup with structural Engineers Arup conceiving the structure. The structure was built by CSCEC (China State Construction Engineering Corporation). Comprising a steel space frame, it is the largest ETFE clad structure in the world with over 100,000 m² of ETFE pillows that are only eight one-thousandths of an inch in total thickness, The ETFE cladding allows more light and heat penetration than traditional glass, resulting in a 30% decrease in energy costs.
The outer wall is based on the Weaire-Phelan structure, a foam (structure formed by soap bubbles). The pattern is formed by taking a slice through the foam, and it was chosen in preference to the Kelvin foam because the more complex Weaire-Phelan structure results in more irregular, organic patterns than slices through the regular Kelvin foam.The structure will have a capacity of 17,000during the games that will be reduced to 6,000 afterwards. It also has a total land surface of 65,000 square metres and will cover a total of 7.8 acres (32,000 m²)
(Thank you and credits to the official website Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, wikipedia org. and all sources for the information pictures)
