The world will remember the Beijing Olympic Games for its touching opening ceremony and Olympic Village with Chinese cultural elements, promised key figures in the event's preparation work at a press conference on March 12.

During the annual session of the National Committee of the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top advisory body, four members involved in preparing for the Olympic Games were invited to a press conference with Olympic preparation as its theme.

Internationally acclaimed Chinese filmmaker and General Director of the Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies Zhang Yimou said the climax of the opening performance is the exhibition of 10,000 photos of children's smiling faces that have been collected from around the world.

"I believe that moment will be very touching, symbolizing a wonderful future for mankind," Zhang said.

He also admitted that directing a stage performance of less than one hour to show the best of China's 5,000-year-old culture was not an easy job. He said the elements he chose are those of human emotions that transcend nationalities and age.

The stage performances of the opening ceremony, which includes 10,000 cast members, entered their rehearsal stage on March 1.

Zhang's greatest worry for the ceremony is weather conditions. Zheng Guoguang, head of the China Meteorological Administration, told a recent Xinhua interview that there was a 10-percent chance that a heavy rain of above 5 mm would fall during the opening ceremony and current technology can do little to stop it.

Zhang said if there is rain some performances in the air and those that rely on hi-tech effects will have to be canceled to guarantee the safety of the cast.

When asked to predict China's ranking on the medal table of the Olympic Games, Cui Dalin, Vice Minister of General Administration of Sport, said China had lagged far behind the United States and Russia in terms of competitive sports at major events in the last three years. He said the Chinese delegation will compete in the Beijing Olympics not only for medals to bring honor to the country, but also to inspire mass enthusiasm for taking part in sports.

Summarizing China's anti-doping efforts in recent years, Cui said China became the first Asian country to sign the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization anti-doping convention in October 2006. The China Anti-Doping Agency with a state-of-the-art laboratory to conduct doping tests for Beijing Olympics was launched in November 2007, he added, and General Administration of Sport had conducted over 10,000 doping tests on Chinese athletes, both on and off games.

"Our delegation to the Beijing Olympics will be a totally clean team," announced Cui.

Retired table tennis world champion and Vice Director of Olympic Village Deng Yaping told the press that Chinese culture would be reflected in both sporting facilities and entertainment activities around the city.

"It is difficult to strike a balance between allowing athletes enough time to have a good rest and giving them opportunities to learn about Chinese culture," Deng said. She said athletes' rest time will be guaranteed as all entertainment activities will take place in an "international area" in the village while journalists will not be allowed to enter the athletes' residential area.

Hi-tech features of the Olympic Games are captured in the massive usage of electric vehicles, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, solar power generators, new construction material for Olympic venues, the launch of a small satellite to guarantee telecommunication during the Olympics and a multi-patented Olympic torch that can burn normally on the summit of Mount Everest, said Zhang Jing'an, who is in charge of science and technology promotion and the website of the Science and Technology Committee of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

BOCOG Executive Vice President and Vice Mayor of Beijing Liu Jingmin said handling the travelers rush for the Olympics is not a big concern for the organizers since Beijing has the experience of handling 2 million tourists during the weeklong national holidays. The city is going to learn from Sydney and Athens by having 280-km Olympic lanes for the exclusive use of the Olympic family and for spectators' special express buses, he added.

Beijing's latest program to clean up its air was published in Beijing Daily on February 21. The major measures include: eliminating industrial facilities with high emission levels; enforcing national IV discharge standards on new vehicles from March to limit carbon monoxide and particulate matter discharge; and the replacement of 1,500 outdated buses and 2,000 outdated taxis by the end of June.

Talking about the Olympics Games' "green legacy" for Beijing, Liu told Beijing Review in a recent interview that "green technologies," such as rainwater collection, use of reclaimed water, heat pump systems using waste water and the use of wind and solar power, adopted by Olympic venues and the Olympic Village will be good role models for future construction projects in Beijing.

"The green Olympics is educating the public about a new lifestyle," said Liu.