The CCTV building Update

The CCTV building is now at the most important point of its construction. The two towers are now going to be connect at the top portion of the building. The engineers mentioned that the connecting blocks extending from the two towers has to be built at the same pace to ensure that the suspended portion of the tower matches and do not collapse. Let's wish them all the best so that Beijing gets another incredible piece of architecture!!!

Photo is taken from http://www.skyscrapercity.com/ posted by tombeijing.

The Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium Completed!

This stadium is completed earlier this month. It is going to host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics competition! As with all university stadiums, it will be passed on to the university's management after the Games.

The Tianjin Olympics Stadium is completed

In fact, it's currently one of the stadiums hosting the Women's Soccer World Cup! Here are some photos of this magnificent stadium! :)

News on the One Year Countdown to Beijing Olympics - From CNN

Here are some video links to CNN news reports to the Games.

In this clip, you can see the performance in the countdown:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/international/2007/08/08/stevens.cdb.olympics.one.year.cnn

Here're some some other clips that features on the preparation work on Beijing 2008! Enjoy! :)

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/08/08/olympics.beijing.reut/index.html?iref=newssearch

One Year to Beijing 2008!!!

How time flies! It's only one year left to 08082008 - The Chinese Olympics!!!

Here's the theme song for the Beijing Olympic Games! It's called "We are ready".

Well, Beijing will indeed be more than ready! Most of the stadiums (excluding the Bird Nest) will be completed by the end of the year! The new Olympic subway line is already in the testing stage. Many of the stadiums are staging pre-Olympic events to prepare them for the Games!

As many papers have said, apart from the pollution and traffic problems, this Olympics has pretty much met and exceed all expectations! It's the mark of the Chinese rise into the international scene! 加油，北京！加油，中国！加油，中华民族！

Another soccer preliminary stadium

Another incredible architecture. This is situated in Tianjin, about an hour and an half away by train from Beijing. Tianjin is the 3rd or 4th largest city in China (though less famous than Shanghai or Guangzhou). This stadium will be used for the soccer preliminaries. Don't you love the lights! :)

Shenyang Olympic Sports Center debuts on July 4th

The incredible thing about the Beijing Olympics is that even the "lesser" venues are spectacular. Here are pictures of the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center located north of Beijing in the Liaoning Province. This stadium is used for football. Photos taken from http://www.skyscrapercity.com/

The Bird Nest At Night (鸟巢夜观)

The construction of the Bird Nest is now focused on the interior. 5000 workers are working on the site everyday. Here are some pictures of the birdnest at night.

The Hong Kong Olympic Equestarian Centre

In case you still didn't know, the equestarian competition will be held in Hong Kong, instead of Beijing. The stadium is now completed. Take a look!!! (taken from 2008.sohu.com)

The Bird Nest is Powered Up

The first of 4 power installation has completed in the main Olympic Station. The power installation took just 2 months to complete the first phase.

This means that we will soon see the Bird Nest being LIT UP!!!

That's going be exciting!!! :D

CCTV Building

This is another incredible building by the Chinese. They hope to finish this before the Olympics so that it will be another spectacle for tourist to the city.

It's getting towards the crucial part of its construction real soon i.e. the joining of the two towers.

Pictures taken from http://www.beijingupdates.com/

Good Luck @ Qingdao Olympic Sailing Regatta

The Qingdao Olympic Sailing Regatta is getting ready for a preparation international event for the Beijing Olympics next year. The event (Qingdao International Sailing Competition, 9th to 24th Aug 2007) is part of a whole series of events to test the readiness of ALL the stadiums involved in the Beijing Olympics!

Here are the latest pictures of the Regatta! :)

Oops! Sorry Google!!!

I accidentally clicked on one of the google ads on my site today! *sweat*!!! I must really go and apologise to Google!!!





Anyway, what surprised me is that the ad site shows that some of the tour packages has already sold out! It's more than a year before the Olympics!!! The tour packages are not cheap either... at least $6,000 dollars for 5 nights!





According to sohu.com, the price of the hotel rooms around the Olympics village has already rose 6 times or more! If you are really planning to go, book now!

(images from skyscrapercity.com)

The National Grand Theatre - Beijing

The National Grand Theatre is another INCREDIBLE architecture in Beijing. Nickname the "Egg", it is just next to the Forbidden City and Tian An Men Square. When it was first announced, many people condemned it's architectural style being unauspicious and that it destroyed the view of the most important architectural site of China.

It is now almost complete. It's first performance is scheduled in July. Here are some pictures of it. Be the judge. :)

Engineering Triumph or Environmental Destruction?

China to build highway on Mt Everest for 2008 Olympics

Beijing, June 20 (PTI): China has started building a 108-km-long "highway" on Mt Everest from the Tibetan side so as to ease the path of those bearing the 2008 Beijing Olympics torch, but environmental concerns remain.

The construction of the road -- costing $ 19.7 million -- kicked off yesterday at Mt Everest Base Camp 5,200 meters above sea level.

It is not clear if the road construction project will affect the fragile environment of the Himalayan region. The planned 2008 Beijing Olympics flame ignition and torch relay over Mt Everest will not harm the fragile environment, Tibet's Communist Party chief Zhang Qingli said recently.

Some media reports have blamed the environmental changes of Tibet partly on the increase of tourists and mountaineers to this area, citing more modern facilities will be brought up the mountain to ensure the torch burning and television broadcast, which will then result in greater pollution.

The organisers of the torch relay has said the Olympics flame is expected to reach Mt Everest from the southern slope before the mountaineers carry it down along the northern slope.
The project aims to turn a 108-km rough road linking Tingri County of Xigaze Prefecture at the foot of the world's tallest mountain to the Base Camp into a blacktop highway fenced by undulating guardrails.

The project will take about four months. On completion, the highway will become the major route for tourists and mountaineers who are crowding onto Mt Everest in ever larger numbers, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Olympic Village - The Sportsman Condo

This is the interior of some of the condo units that sportsman will stay in during the Games. They will be sold after the games. Do you like them? :)

p.s.: They are supposed to be environmentally friendly homes!