BEIJING Clients who visit China’s capital in coming months will
find a city that is moving full speed ahead on a mammoth effort to
improve its infrastructure in time to host the 2008 Olympics.
Construction has already started on sports venues and related
facilities at the main Olympic site a 3,000-acre parcel named
Olympic Green, in the northern part of the city. Over the next five
years, the city’s Olympic organizing committee, Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Games of XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), has also promised
to make major improvements in Beijing’s environment and the lives
of its almost 14 million residents. Beijing has long been plagued
by air and water pollution, and the city’s bid for the games
included a promise that they would become a catalyst for
environmental improvements and sustainable growth. The committee’s
Web site says that the equivalent of $12 billion will be invested
in clean-up projects before 2008. In addition, the city is
promising that its emissions reduction program will be extended,
most of its buses and taxis will start using natural gas, five new
subway lines and 14 more wastewater treatment plants will be built,
and all of its urban garbage will be disposed of safely. In
addition, the committee has promised to plant more than 57,000
acres of trees, bringing the city’s green coverage to 50 percent of
its total area. Public transport is another major focus. If
everything proceeds as scheduled, Beijing will have more than 435
miles of expressway, triple the 134 miles it currently has; and an
87-mile light rail and subway system will link central Beijing to
Olympic Green. As 5 million foreign visitors and 120 million
Chinese are expected to attend the Games, hotel development is a
concern. In Beijing, there are now approximately 450 hotels, with
84,000 rooms; plans are to increase this inventory to 800 hotels
and 130,000 rooms by the 2008 games. Olympics visitors will also be
housed in apartments and guesthouses throughout the city. Language
skills have also been an area of focus. While many of those
involved in the tourist industry speak English, most residents are
not fluent. It is not unusual to ask a hotel concierge to write out
directions in Chinese to ensure your taxi driver knows where you
want to go. The municipal government is encouraging people in
certain professions, such as taxi drivers, police officers and
community workers, to learn English. China National Tourist Office,
Los Angeles: 818-545-7507,
[email protected], www.cnto.o
