Mice star as Olympic food tasters (from BBC news)

"China is determined the Olympic Games will pass off smoothly
White mice are to take part in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing - their task to protect international athletes from food poisoning.
The mice will be fed milk, alcohol, salad, rice, oil and seasonings, the city's health inspectors said.

Mice show adverse reactions within 17 hours, while laboratory tests take much longer, they said.

Poor hygiene in food handling and low standards in distribution have made food poisoning rife in China.

The move is part of the huge effort the Chinese are making to ensure the showpiece event passes off smoothly.

24-hour guard

All the food and ingredients to be prepared in Olympic kitchens will fed to the mice a day before they are served to athletes, state news agency Xinhua quoted Zhao Xinsheng of the Beijing Municipal Health Inspection Bureau as saying.

Infected food can then be traced and destroyed in time.

More than 10,000 competitors will be staying at the athletes' village during the Games.

The kitchens will also have 24-hour guards, storage will be constantly monitored and transportation will have global positioning systems.

Zhen Xiaozhen, of the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, said the food served would be Western, complemented by Chinese dishes.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beijing says nothing is being allowed to stand in the way of the perfect Olympics.

Stray cats and dogs will vanish from the streets, he says, and anti-aircraft guns, small planes and rockets will be used to disperse rain clouds, ensuring there will be blue skies over Beijing for the duration. "

Wow! I wonder how Stuart Little will feel when he knows about the "great contribution" that his fellow mice will make to the Beijing Olympics! Mice are really the foundation of the modern world. Our progress in terms of medical and biological sciences are largely due to their sacrifice...

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A Clean Beijing

"(BEIJING, Nov. 16) -- Beijing has already achieved its goal of using clean energy in the heating system for the year.

Up to the end of October, a total of 1410 boilers with a combined capacity of 5,000 tons have been converted to clean energy, fulfilling the plan for the year two months ahead of schedule.

Since 1998, the capital city has devoted attention to combating air pollution, with the use of clean energy instead of coal as a major priority. Over the past several years, more than 10,000 boilers with a capacity of less than 20 tons each and 44,000 tea boilers have taken in clean energy. As a result, the annual average of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere fell to 50 micrograms per cubic meter in Beijing in 2005, which means the national standard was met.

In its 11th five-year plan for the national economic development (2006-2011) Beijing has pledged to continue upgrade the rest of 2800 boilers with a capacity of less than 20 tons each."

This report is ambiguous. Anyone knows what is the clean substitute for coal that they use? What's tea boilers?
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Shuyi Olympic Canoeing-Shalom Park

Qingdao Olympic Sailing Regatta is not the only venue for water sports for the Games. The other venue is actually situated in landlocked (and water deficient) Beijing! It is known as the Shunyi Olympic Canoeing-Shalom Park (顺义奥林匹克水上公园).

The interesting thing about this park is that it never existed. The authorities literally carved out the entire water park from the earth. They've recently completed the first phase of the project. The main navigation channels reaching a depth of 0.8m with 300, 000 cubic meters of water. It is expected to reach a final depth of 3.5m with 1.7million cubic meters of water next year.

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The Olympic Torches Poll

Which one do you like? Greece is leading right now!

1936 Berlin	1948 London	1952 Helsinki
1956 Melbourne	1960 Rome	1964 Tokyo
1968 Mexico City	1972 Munich	1976 Montreal
1980 Moscow	1984 Los Angeles	1988 Seoul
1992 Barcelona	1996 Atlanta	2000 Sydney
2004 Greece

Which Olympic Torch is the best looking? 1936 Berlin 1948 London 1952 Helsinki 1956 Melbourne 1960 Rome 1964 Tokyo 1968 Mexico City 1972 Munich 1976 Montreal 1980 Moscow 1984 Los Angeles 1988 Seoul 1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 2000 Sydney 2004 Greece Free polls from Pollhost.com

Fly with the Fuwa, Anyone?

Air China has started its sponsorship campaign by launching a "fuwa-liner"! This plane is on a tour to some major Olympic cities starting with Beijing.

This plane will be put into service thereafter! :D





In conjunction with the launch of the plane, they are launched a limited edition telephone cards (with China Mobile) and postage set! Worth keeping!

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The smiles from the volunteers are the best namecards for Beijing!

Apparently, the Beijing 2008 Committee is considering having wrist bands for volunteers during the Games. On 29th Oct, they gave out these sample rubber wristbands during an event to volunteers and spectators. These wristbands are called 'Smile Bands', in conjunction with the "courtesy campaign" for the Olympics! ;-)

These rubber wristbands have the words “志愿者的微笑是北京最好的名片”engraved on the inner sides and a unique number tagged with it. The literal translation is "The smiles from the volunteers are the best namecards for Beijing!"

The design's not final. In fact, they gave out 20000 surveys to ask for opinions on the wristbands including questions on what they feel the different colors should symbolise! They will unveil the final version of the wristbands on 1st Jan 2007!

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