China shortens Tibet leg of Olympic torch relay
By HENRY SANDERSON –
BEIJING (AP) — The controversial Tibetan leg of the Olympic torch relay has been cut to just one day because of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province, a Beijing Olympics official said Sunday.
The torch's stop in Tibet — originally set for three days — has been criticized by Tibet activist groups who see it as an attempt by Beijing to symbolize its control over Tibet. China says it has ruled Tibet for centuries, although many Tibetans say their homeland was essentially independent for much of that time.
The cut to one day came after the relay was stopped for three days last week as part of a national period of mourning declared by the government to honor the victims of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province that left nearly 63,000 people dead and almost 24,000 others missing.
The announcement also came two months after a violent uprising in ethnic Tibetan areas throughout China led to a security clampdown in the region. China has said life is returning to normal, and monasteries are reopening in Tibet's capital, Lhasa. But foreigners are still banned and until recently Chinese were advised to stay away.
"All I can be sure of is that the Lhasa relay has been shortened to one day," said Li Lizhi of the Beijing Olympic torch relay center.
"It's probably either on June 18 or June 19, as is tentatively set now. But it is still open to future adjustment," she said.
Olympic organizers announced days ago that the Sichuan leg of the relay had been shifted from mid-June to early August because of the quake. The leg now will run from Aug. 3 to Aug. 5 instead of June 15 to June 18.
It was not clear if the torch relay would still go through Mianyang, one of the hardest-hit areas, as planned. The Beijing games start Aug. 8.
"It is too early to tell," said Zhang Liang, who is also with the torch relay center. "Every city has been preparing for it very hard and we will make the final decision based on how well each place recovers."
So far the torch has had a smooth relay in mainland China, uninterrupted by the protests over Tibet and human rights that dogged parts of its international tour.
Earlier this month, Chinese mountaineers raised the Olympic torch at the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, producing the triumphant image that China has longed for in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
The Everest torch was separate from the main Olympic flame, which is on a three-month tour of China after a one-month trip around the world.
Activists upset with Chinese government policies, especially pro-Tibet independence groups, used that trip around the world to stage protests to highlight their causes.
source courtesy :ap press
writer:HENRY SANDERSON
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
China picks up the Olympic torch again
2008/05/22
THE Olympic torch resumes its journey through China today after a three-day period of national mourning for victims of the earthquake that killed 40000 .
The torch relay will resume at a container port in eastern China’s seaport city of Ningbo, travelling through the city and across the Hangzhou Bay bridge to Jiaxing. Later today it is to be moved by vehicle to the country’s commercial centre of Shanghai.
So far, the torch has had a smooth relay in mainland China, uninterrupted by the protests that dogged parts of its international tour. But organisers scaled down the celebratory tone of the relay after the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck central China on May 12, flattening entire communities. The torch relay last stopped in Hangzhou, a scenic city to the west of Ningbo.
China’s leadership has sought to use the Olympics, which begin on August 8 in Beijing, to showcase the country’s achievements and rally national unity.
The torch relay, which has travelled to all corners of the globe , has played a key role in the build-up to the Games. Organisers initially resisted changes in the relay, which corporate sponsors have paid millions of dollars to fund.
But public pressure for a moratorium on the event prompted organisers to adjust details of the relay. Some legs of the run were shortened and donations for victims have been collected along the way.
The torch was to remain in Shanghai on Friday and Saturday, and then travel on to neighbouring Jiangsu province. It is due to arrive on June 13 in the sprawling Yangtze River city of Chongqing and enter neighbouring Sichuan province, site of the quake’s epicentre, two days later.
The torch returns to Beijing on August 6, two days before the opening ceremony.
During the three-day mourning period, flags were flying at half- mast and entertainment events were cancelled. Television networks were running only news programmes .
Authorities have reported more than 40000 dead, with at least 10000 more deaths likely, and 32000 people missing from the disaster. — Sapa- AP
THE Olympic torch resumes its journey through China today after a three-day period of national mourning for victims of the earthquake that killed 40000 .
The torch relay will resume at a container port in eastern China’s seaport city of Ningbo, travelling through the city and across the Hangzhou Bay bridge to Jiaxing. Later today it is to be moved by vehicle to the country’s commercial centre of Shanghai.
So far, the torch has had a smooth relay in mainland China, uninterrupted by the protests that dogged parts of its international tour. But organisers scaled down the celebratory tone of the relay after the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck central China on May 12, flattening entire communities. The torch relay last stopped in Hangzhou, a scenic city to the west of Ningbo.
China’s leadership has sought to use the Olympics, which begin on August 8 in Beijing, to showcase the country’s achievements and rally national unity.
The torch relay, which has travelled to all corners of the globe , has played a key role in the build-up to the Games. Organisers initially resisted changes in the relay, which corporate sponsors have paid millions of dollars to fund.
But public pressure for a moratorium on the event prompted organisers to adjust details of the relay. Some legs of the run were shortened and donations for victims have been collected along the way.
The torch was to remain in Shanghai on Friday and Saturday, and then travel on to neighbouring Jiangsu province. It is due to arrive on June 13 in the sprawling Yangtze River city of Chongqing and enter neighbouring Sichuan province, site of the quake’s epicentre, two days later.
The torch returns to Beijing on August 6, two days before the opening ceremony.
During the three-day mourning period, flags were flying at half- mast and entertainment events were cancelled. Television networks were running only news programmes .
Authorities have reported more than 40000 dead, with at least 10000 more deaths likely, and 32000 people missing from the disaster. — Sapa- AP
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Olympics ticket deadline extended after China quake
Olympics ticket deadline extended after China quake
source:courtesy: * Reuters
* , Thursday May 15 2008
BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - Subscribers who bought tickets for the Beijing Olympics in the third round of domestic sales will have an extra 10 days to pay after Monday's earthquake in southwest China killed thousands, Games organisers said.
Buyers were due to pay by last Tuesday but now had until May 23 after China's worst earthquake in three decades prevented some people from paying, China's Olympic Ticketing Centre announced in a statement.
The online booking system would continue service until the planned end of the third phase domestic sale on June 9, it added, despite the fact that tickets to events in Beijing and Hong Kong had already sold out.
The third round of domestic sales started with 1.38 million tickets up for grabs on May 5. A total of 7 million tickets will be made available to the general public for the Aug. 8-24 Games.
(Take a look at the Countdown to Beijing blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)
(Reporting by Liu Zhen; Editing by Nick Macfie)
source:courtesy: * Reuters
* , Thursday May 15 2008
BEIJING, May 15 (Reuters) - Subscribers who bought tickets for the Beijing Olympics in the third round of domestic sales will have an extra 10 days to pay after Monday's earthquake in southwest China killed thousands, Games organisers said.
Buyers were due to pay by last Tuesday but now had until May 23 after China's worst earthquake in three decades prevented some people from paying, China's Olympic Ticketing Centre announced in a statement.
The online booking system would continue service until the planned end of the third phase domestic sale on June 9, it added, despite the fact that tickets to events in Beijing and Hong Kong had already sold out.
The third round of domestic sales started with 1.38 million tickets up for grabs on May 5. A total of 7 million tickets will be made available to the general public for the Aug. 8-24 Games.
(Take a look at the Countdown to Beijing blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)
(Reporting by Liu Zhen; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
2008 Sichuan earthquake will affect china olympic?
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake had its epicenter in Wenchuan County (Chinese: 汶川县; Pinyin: Wènchuān Xiàn), Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China at 14:28:04 local time (06:28:04 GMT) on 12 May 2008.[2] According to the State Seismological Bureau of China and the United States Geological Survey, it had a magnitude of 7.9 Mw (initially reported as 7.8 Mw by the USGS) and the epicenter was 90 kilometres (55 miles) west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan.[3] The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed with the tremor,[4] Pakistan,[5] Thailand,[5] and Vietnam.[6]
With 10,000 deaths so far,[7] it was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed around 240,000 people, and the strongest earthquake in China since 1950, when Tibet was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.6. The quake occurred 10 days after Cyclone Nargis ripped through Burma, a few hundred miles away, killing tens of thousands.[8]
The epicenter was in Wenchuan County, Ngawa Prefecture, 90 km northwest of Chengdu, with its main tremor so far occurring at 14:28:04 local time (06:28:04 UTC) on Monday 12 May 2008. Early reports of the earthquake's magnitude ranged from 7.5 to 8.0. More than 27 major aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.0 to 6.0 were recorded within one day of the main tremor.[9]
Office workers in Chengdu reported a "continuous shaking for about two or three minutes", with many people rushing outside.[10]
Damage
All highways into Wenchuan were damaged, resulting in delayed arrival of the rescue troops.[25][26] Over 2,300 base stations of China Mobile in Sichuan and nearby areas went offline, while the China Unicom network in Wenchuan broke down entirely.[27][28] In Beichuan county, 80% of the buildings collapsed according to Xinhua News.[29] In the city of Shifang, the collapse of two chemical plants led to leakage of some 80 tons of liquid ammonia, with hundreds of people reported buried.[30] In the city of Dujiangyan, south-east of the epicentre, a whole school collapsed with 900 students buried and 50 dead. The Juyuan middle school, where many teenagers were buried, is being excavated by civilians and cranes.
Head of the Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, who hopes that China will make a successful showing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, expressed remorse. He said to President Hu Jintao, "The Olympic Movement is at your side, especially during these difficult moments. Our thoughts are with you."
Hope chinese will make a good show despite of earthquake or tibet .china rocks..
With 10,000 deaths so far,[7] it was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed around 240,000 people, and the strongest earthquake in China since 1950, when Tibet was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.6. The quake occurred 10 days after Cyclone Nargis ripped through Burma, a few hundred miles away, killing tens of thousands.[8]
The epicenter was in Wenchuan County, Ngawa Prefecture, 90 km northwest of Chengdu, with its main tremor so far occurring at 14:28:04 local time (06:28:04 UTC) on Monday 12 May 2008. Early reports of the earthquake's magnitude ranged from 7.5 to 8.0. More than 27 major aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.0 to 6.0 were recorded within one day of the main tremor.[9]
Office workers in Chengdu reported a "continuous shaking for about two or three minutes", with many people rushing outside.[10]
Damage
All highways into Wenchuan were damaged, resulting in delayed arrival of the rescue troops.[25][26] Over 2,300 base stations of China Mobile in Sichuan and nearby areas went offline, while the China Unicom network in Wenchuan broke down entirely.[27][28] In Beichuan county, 80% of the buildings collapsed according to Xinhua News.[29] In the city of Shifang, the collapse of two chemical plants led to leakage of some 80 tons of liquid ammonia, with hundreds of people reported buried.[30] In the city of Dujiangyan, south-east of the epicentre, a whole school collapsed with 900 students buried and 50 dead. The Juyuan middle school, where many teenagers were buried, is being excavated by civilians and cranes.
Head of the Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, who hopes that China will make a successful showing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, expressed remorse. He said to President Hu Jintao, "The Olympic Movement is at your side, especially during these difficult moments. Our thoughts are with you."
Hope chinese will make a good show despite of earthquake or tibet .china rocks..
Friday, May 9, 2008
Beijing Olympic torch on Everest
CHINESE climbers carrying the Olympic flame reached the summit of Mount Everest yesterday, exactly three months before the Beijing Games.
A Tibetan woman, Cering Wangmo, was first to the top with a special extreme-altitude Olympic torch in what China has billed as the high point of its controversial torch relay.
"Beijing welcomes you!" team members said to live TV cameras as they stood at the summit unfurling Olympic banners and celebrating.
Others shouted: "We are on top of the world!", and "One World, One Dream", the official Games slogan.
The team had set out six hours earlier for a final push to the 8848m Himalayan peak, in an event delayed two weeks due to bad weather.
The special torch is different to the one now touring the Chinese mainland, after a global relay dogged by protests over Beijing's handling of unrest in Tibet and its overall human rights record.
China's plan to take the torch up Everest became particularly controversial after the communist Government cracked down on Tibetan protests against Chinese rule of the Himalayan region.
China deployed huge security teams for the flame's ascent. Climbing expeditions from both Everest's Tibetan and Nepalese sides were banned to prevent any disturbances.
China has said it hopes that the Everest leg will promote unity between Tibetans and China.
But exiled Tibetan leaders have said taking the torch through their nation is nothing less than an insult.
"China is clearly attempting to underscore its baseless claims to sovereignty over Tibet," said Matt Whitticase, spokesman for the London-based Free Tibet Campaign.
The main torch's three-month relay through China will culminate in Beijing with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron on August 8 to begin the Games.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
China Olympics tickets sold out
China Olympics tickets sold out
Chinese woman smiles as she holds up her Olympic tickets
Millions of Chinese have bought tickets for the games
The organisers of this year's Olympic Games in China say domestic tickets for events in Beijing and Hong Kong have sold out, state-run media outlets say.
Queues formed at branches of the Bank of China when the third and final batch of tickets went on sale on Monday.
China allocated about three-quarters of the seven million Olympic tickets to its domestic audience.
The rest are being sold overseas through each country's national Olympic Committee.
A total of 1.38 million tickets for 16 sports, including boxing, football, volleyball and basketball, were put on sale both at Bank of China outlets and on the official website.
Tickets for the soccer tournament in co-host cities Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao, as well as tickets for equestrian events in Hong Kong, are still available, Xinhua news agency said.
Online sales ran into problems on Monday, despite guarantees that the system had been repaired after earlier glitches led to the dismissal of the ticket centre's director last year.
Buyers complained on blogs and internet chat rooms of being unable to complete purchases, despite being able to log on to the website and select tickets fairly smoothly.
Beijing Olympic torch nears Everest peak -Xinhua
EVEREST BASE CAMP, China, May 8 (Reuters) - A team of climbers taking the Beijing Olympic flame up Mount Everest is now just 48 metres short of the 8,848 metre (29,030 foot) peak, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.
State television showed live footage of a team of mainly ethnic Tibetan climbers scaling Everest, known in Chinese as Mount Qomolangma.
Climbers were expected to reach the top by about 0100 GMT, state television reported.
Heavy snowfalls over the weekend had delayed China's crowning moment, destroying routes fixed earlier by climbers and forcing repairs to mountain-side camps.
But as a second day of relative calm enveloped Everest on Tuesday, organisers lifted a veil of silence shrouding the climb, buoying hopes of a renewed push to the summit.
The mountaineering team's spokesman said that 31 Chinese climbers, 22 of them ethnic Tibetan, were fixing routes and repairing camps for the final assault.
The Everest flame is separate from the main Olympic torch that arrived in mainland China on Sunday after a protest-marred international relay that embarrassed officials and sparked a wave of nationalistic fervour at home.
The anti-Chinese demonstrations that disrupted the international stretch of the longest torch relay in Olympic history were triggered by Tibetan riots and China's immediate crackdown. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, David Gray, and Mark Chisolm, Writing by Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Ken Wills and Valerie Lee) (Take a look at the Countdown to Beijing blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)
Sport
source :Reuters
coutesy:Reuters
State television showed live footage of a team of mainly ethnic Tibetan climbers scaling Everest, known in Chinese as Mount Qomolangma.
Climbers were expected to reach the top by about 0100 GMT, state television reported.
Heavy snowfalls over the weekend had delayed China's crowning moment, destroying routes fixed earlier by climbers and forcing repairs to mountain-side camps.
But as a second day of relative calm enveloped Everest on Tuesday, organisers lifted a veil of silence shrouding the climb, buoying hopes of a renewed push to the summit.
The mountaineering team's spokesman said that 31 Chinese climbers, 22 of them ethnic Tibetan, were fixing routes and repairing camps for the final assault.
The Everest flame is separate from the main Olympic torch that arrived in mainland China on Sunday after a protest-marred international relay that embarrassed officials and sparked a wave of nationalistic fervour at home.
The anti-Chinese demonstrations that disrupted the international stretch of the longest torch relay in Olympic history were triggered by Tibetan riots and China's immediate crackdown. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, David Gray, and Mark Chisolm, Writing by Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Ken Wills and Valerie Lee) (Take a look at the Countdown to Beijing blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)
Sport
source :Reuters
coutesy:Reuters
China olympics cities information
Beijing
Hong Kong
Qingdao
Qinghuangdao
Shanghai
Shenyang
Tianjin
Shenyang
Shenyang
Shenyang will hold the football matches for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. With the strong monsoon impacts, Shenyang witnesses the four distinct seasons. The average temperature in summer reaches 24 degrees celsius, 3-5 degrees lower than in the southern part of China. Shenyang is not only the capital city of Liaoning Province, but the largest city of Northeast China with the largest railroad hub and airport across the region. As a famous historical and cultural city, Shenyang is the birthplace of Qing Dynasty and the location for the first two emperors' mausoleums -- Fuling Mausoleum and Zhaoling Mausoleum. Shenyang Imperial Palace is the second largest and well-preserved ancient palace complex, only next to Beijing Palace Museum. During the spare time after your appreciation of the Olympic Games, you may visit the historic sites of this city along the route of "one palace and two mausoleums". As the World Horticultural Exposition was successfully held in 2006, Shenyang is quickening its steps in converting itself into a garden city and a forest city.
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