BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) — China has launched a nationwide campaign on the Olympics since the country won the hosting bid for the 2008 Olympic Games on July 13, 2001.

The campaign has helped popularize the Olympic knowledge and promote the Olympic spirit among the youth and broaden the students’ view and awareness of the sports event, said Gao Hong, vice director of the Basic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE).

“It (the campaign) also works to encourage the students to be more involved into the various sports activities and preserve the cultural heritage of the Games,” Gao added.

During the Campaign, 556 model schools have been established including common and secondary schools, vocational schools, special education schools, and multi-ethnic schools.

A “heart to heart” Partnership Program were initiated as a part of the campaign, and more than 210 primary and secondary schools in Beijing have been partnered with 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and 160 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs).

The program is composed of exchanging activities, greeting activities in the Team Welcome Ceremony at the Olympic Village or Paralympic village and cheer leading activities for their partner delegation at the competitions venues.

The campaign also successfully integrated Olympic education into school’s normal education, using the school curriculums to improve education on Olympics and established “an Olympic education mode based on schools”.

“Most importantly, the campaign works effectively to promote the self-inspiration of the students to better involve into the Olympic Games,” said Zhang Tiedao, vice president of the Beijing Academy of Educational Science.

MOE statistics said, in the past seven years, about 400 million Chinese young people, especially 230 million primary and secondary students have involved into the campaign.

“This is a great program. It makes the spread of Olympic values in China much wider than any other country in the world,” said the Olympic Review, the official publication of the International Olympic Committee.

Associate Professor Chen Ruixiang (R) presents his work to a representative of a school involved in the “Heart-to-Heart Partnership” program for Olympic education.

(BEIJING, June 28) — Foreigners who will visit “Olympic Education Schools” in Beijing during the Olympic Games may receive a surprise gift – a book on the evolution of Chinese words.

The book, written by Associate Professor Chen Ruixiang of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, explains how Chinese characters relate to nature, mankind and life. He selected 88 fundamental words from stone rubbing originals of various historic periods and a sampling of famous calligraphers’ works. The author gave the words’ original meanings, the order of strokes in their writing styles, the ways of their formation and development, and their cultural chain nucleuses – the historical and cultural materials as well as famous sites like rivers and mountains relating to the words. Therefore the book serves as a vehicle to learn about Chinese culture.

On Saturday, Chen gave a copy of the book to representatives of the Beijing schools engaged in the “Heart-to-Heart Partnership” program with foreign schools. During the Olympic Games, more than 200 primary and secondary schools in Beijing that are being partnered with schools in 205 countries and regions around the world which have set up national or regional Olympic committees, will present the book to visitors.

An IOC representative attends a press conference to launch the campaign.

(BEIJING, April 17) — An art contest featuring Olympic Games’ posters is being carried out in 500 primary schools around China with an aim to spread Olympic culture among the country’s young people.

Sponsored by the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), the campaign was launched on Thursday at Fuxue Primary School and will end on July 10. Participants can enter as individuals or groups.

Pupils are given Olympic posters.

Olympic posters are important symbols that represent the knowledge of the Games held by different countries. The theme of the posters so far has covered the Olympic torch, mascots, venues, sports and host cities, among others.

Fuxue Primary School student speaks at the launching ceremony.
Children celebrate the launch of the contest.
A sample of artwork done with Olympic posters

Foreign students communicate during the inauguration of the exchange camp.

An exchange program themed on Beijing Olympic Games for European school students was kicked off in Beijing Foreign Studies University Affiliated School in the Olympic city of Beijing on March 25, 2008. A total of 65 students from Bulgaria, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Belgium and Germany will learn Chinese cultural background by learning Olympic Chinese, visiting Beijing Olympic venues and tasting Chinese food.

(Photo credit: Xinhua)

Students attend the inauguration of the exchange camp.

Chinese and foreign students pose for photos during the inauguration of the exchange camp.

Gao Hong, an official of the Ministry of Education, takes the floor.

(BEIJIGN, March 6) — Primary and secondary school students under the Olympic Education Program will pay just five to ten yuan for a ticket to see the upcoming Olympic competitions.

Under a unified pricing system, Olympic Education students may purchase Olympic preliminary competition tickets for five yuan, while tickets to the Olympic finals and semi-finals are priced at 10 yuan each. The low-price policy is aimed at offering the students an opportunity to experience the Olympic joy onsite, according to a meeting of the Ministry of Education and BOCOG regarding ticketing on Thursday.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Education Program was launched in December 2005. At present, there are 556 “Olympic Education Model Schools” across China, with 200 of them in Beijing.

Olympic Education students in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao will be arranged to attend the Olympic competitions in the respective cities, and the students outside Beijing can come to Beijing to watch the Games at their own will.

Scene of the meeting

The 15th session of the Beijing Olympic Coordination Group

(BEIJING, March 3) — On February 29, the fifteenth session of the Beijing Olympic Training Coordination Group was held at the Olympic Tower. Among other distinguished guests, Beijing’s vice-mayor, Zhao Fengtong and BOCOG executive vice-president Li Binghua attended the meeting.

During the meeting, BOCOG vice-secretary general Zhang Zhiwei reported on Olympic and Paralympic preparations, detailing the most recent updates regarding training plans for the upcoming event. General discussions regarding the training work prepared for the Olympics touched upon the achievements made thus far. In the next phase, the leaders emphasized that these achievements must continue in an organized schedule so as to ensure completion by August.

Leaders at the meeting

Li Binghua stressed the need to fully implement the task of organizing the training team to further promote the communities’ readiness to accept the Olympic Games. Enormous socio-economic development will come about with appropriate contributions, he remarked.

Zhao Fengtong expressed his satisfaction at the success of the prepatory work thus far. In his speech, he underscored the need to promote training to ready the city for the Olympics.

Tajikistan ambassador Rashid Alimov is giving books to Chinese students.

(BEIJING, Jan. 28) — Tajikistan ambassador Rashid Alimov visited Jinsong No. 4 Primary School on January 23 and brought the book he wrote as a New Year’s gift.

The book is a story about what happened between Fuwa and a student from Tajikistan. The Olympic spirit is well interpreted through the story. During this visit, the ambassador enjoyed performances that the students had prepared for a long time.

Moreover, Mr. Rashid Alimov also brought traditional clothes of Tajikistan and invited a Chinese student to try them on. In return, Chinese calligraphy and artwork of Fuwa were given to the ambassador, and they hope to send these gifts to their partner school in Tajikistan through the ambassador.

Tajikistan ambassador Rashid Alimov is writing his best wishes.

A group photo

(BEIJING, Feb. 27) — On February 25, an Olympic-themed term-opening ceremony was held at Beijing Fengtai No.1 Primary School.

Wayne McCook, Ambassador of Jamaica to the People’s Republic of China, and Jamaica athletics coach Donald Quarrie took part in the activity.

As an old friend of Fengtai No.1 Primary School, Ambassador Wayne McCook paid his second visit since the last one on September 1, 2007. Donald Quarrie, a sports star, accompanied him.

Donald Quarrie won a gold medal in the men’s 200m and a silver medal in the men’s 100m in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. A hero in Jamaica, Donald Quarrie was warmly welcomed by the students and teachers of Fengtai No.1 Primary School. Many young athletes in the school invited Mr. Quarrie to teach them running skills, and Donald Quarrie enjoyed his new job as a teacher.

During the term-opening ceremony, five Olympic families participated and showed their achievements related to the Olympics, including Olympic culture, sports, and environmental protection during the winter holiday.

In the winter holiday, there were 2,700 families of Fengtai No.1 Primary School that participated in Olympic-themed activities, and each family felt it was helpful, not only physically, but also mentally. The Olympic culture is already rooted in their minds.

(BEIJING, January 12)– Up to 100 managers of the venue personnel, volunteer and spectator services attended a two-day workshop held by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) from January 10 to 11, 2008.

The workshop, featuring thematic reports and sub-group discussions, provided the participants with a good opportunity to exchange experiences and enhance cooperation.

Li Binghua (center) attends a summing-up meeting.

Director Liu Jian of BOCOG’s Volunteers’ Department, Director Xin Tieliang of BOCOG’s Human Resources Department, Director Lu Yong of BOCOG’s Venue Management Department and Visiting Professor Guo Chi of the National School of Administration delivered their thematic reports. BOCOG Executive Vice-President Li Binghua addressed a summing-up meeting.

Volunteer managers of various venues discuss their work.
Venue staff managers in discussion
A trainee speaks of his experience.

(BEIJING, January 22)– The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) called for the shift of the Olympic education program from an exchange between Chinese schools and their foreign counterparts to the Games-time mode of an exchange between the Chinese schools and Olympic delegations.

BOCOG made the call on Monday, with the Beijing Olympics just 200 days away.

As components of the Games-time mode, teachers and students will enter the competition venues as well as the Olympic Village, and invite foreign delegations to tour their respective schools, according to Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice-president of BOCOG.

Using specially priced Olympic tickets, students of certain primary and middle schools across China will gather in Beijing to experience the Olympic joy. At the same time, students of Olympic education model schools in Beijing will go to the venues to cheer for the athletes from the countries whose schools are partners of the program. The Chinese schools will also take part in the welcome (flag-raising) ceremonies at the Olympic Village from July 27 to August 7. The Olympic Games will open on August 8, 2008.

Playing host to athletes from around the world, more than 200 Beijing schools will become quasi-Olympic venues,” Jiang told a meeting on Monday. “The schools need to prepare well and make the guests feel at home,” he added.

In a drive to promote Olympic education, 556 schools in China, including 200 in Beijing, have been named Olympic Education Model Schools. The Beijing schools have established partnerships with the Olympic committees of 205 countries and regions (NOCs) and conducted cultural, sports and educational exchanges with the partners schools recommended by the NOCs.