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Learn about China as it gets set to host the 2008 Olympic Games
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The rat is associated with wealth, charm and order, but also with aggression.
- Discovered by local farmers in 1974, the Terracotta
Army of Xi'an
features over 7,000 life-size clay warriors and horses with no two figures
alike.
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Blending traditional Chinese culture with the
spirit of Olympism, jade will be used for the first time in the Olympic medals
presented to the athletes.
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Each year in the Chinese calendar is represented
by an animal zodiac, with the current Chinese year, beginning February 7, 2008,
the Year of the Rat.
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Fireworks originated in China over
1,000 years ago and were often used to scare away evil spirits.
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The Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing
Olympics will take place on 8/8/08 at 8 p.m. The number 8 carries great
significance in Chinese culture as a symbol of prosperity.
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As of Fall 2007, 3,590 Chinese people had been
given the name "Aoyun," meaning "Olympics."
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A staple of everyday life, China has more
bicycles on its streets than any other country in the world: 470 million.
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By early 2008, the Beijing Organizing Committee
(BOCOG) announced that it had already received more than one million volunteer
applications for the Olympic Games.
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At 1,000 acres, Tiananmen
Square in Beijing
is the world's largest public square - the size as 75 football fields.
- China is
the world's largest country with only one official time zone and does not observe
Daylight Savings Time.
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After the official announcement that Beijing had been selected as host of the 2008 Olympics,
more than 400,000 Beijing
citizens reveled in the streets with the celebration continuing well into the
night underneath a firework-filled sky.
- The Great
Wall of China, at roughly 4,163 miles long, would extend from Chicago to Madrid...
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