8 a5 _8 \ ~2 Q& h% n4 w& F7 U% O+ z( q) v$ k. o Whatever it takes, China aims for dazzling Games) B2 Y3 N" V- i1 d, O
- a/ D8 h) h: s 3 @! V S% Q' l/ pCars travel on a highway amid thick smoke and haze in Beijing on July 17. Authorities will order 1 million cars off Beijing's gridlocked streets for two weeks this month to test a plan to cut traffic and auto emissions during the Games. Organizers also plan to run 50 electric buses to transport Olympic officials and athletes, and last year Beijing removed 15,000 old taxis and 3,000 buses from the city to try to ease pollution and traffic. ) \; I! t- G- b, q - d0 y" w+ M: o. l( LBEIJING — They are evicting tenants to make room for visitors, shutting down factories to reduce pollution, plotting to control the weather, staging rallies to teach English and ordering Beijing's brusque citizens to mind their manners.9 ^' j6 J, Q* q5 V4 c a
Whatever it takes, the organizers of the Beijing Olympics are determined to put on the grandest Games ever a year from now — and make them a symbol of the communist nation's arrival as a global economic power. Even the time and date of the opening ceremony — 8:08 p.m., Aug. 8, 2008 — were chosen to try to ensure success, eight being a lucky number in China.. Q3 L* b5 R, M9 m7 M4 V
A series of recent scandals involving contaminated food and consumer goods produced in China has only heightened the urgency for Beijing to put on a good face for the more than 10,000 athletes and 550,000 visitors expected here next summer. In its zeal to do so, China will dole out a record $40 billion on stadiums and airport and subway improvements, more than twice what Greece spent on the Athens Olympics in 2004.! P/ a% [3 V4 m) L
5 a2 L6 b! I: v3 ]7 x1 S) O3 | 4 Y" s& f3 [8 d& y$ j: k2 e9 VLocal singers perform "We Are Ready," composed for the 2008 Olympic Games at the song's release ceremony in Beijing on Aug. 4. The Chinese capital is gearing up to celebrate the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony on Aug. 8.
