Beijing has finally entered the "Olympic Year" after seven years of marathon preparation. With about 200 days left until the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games, the city has entered the home straight.

The Bird's Nest, or the National Stadium, which will be the stage of the opening ceremony, is attracting an increasing level of attention. The central building of the Olympic Games, it will be the last to be finished and also the starting place for the competition.

"Lucky Beijing" 2008 International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Race Walking Challenge will be held in the Bird's Nest on April 18-19, and will be the first time the stadium is open to the public. According to plans, construction of the Bird's Nest will be finished at the end of 2006. However, an official from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) revealed that in order to save money the deadline of construction was put off to early 2007. Construction is now set to be completed by March. Chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission of the 29th Olympic Games, Hein Verbruggen showed understanding of the construction delay.

"The delay in construction of the Bird's Nest is quite normal, and nothing to worry about," he said.

The Executive Vice President of BOCOG Liu Jingmin added, "The construction of Olympic stadiums should be completed at a proper time instead of an early time." BOCOG's explanation for the delay was that, "It is all for the needs of opening ceremony."

In an inconspicuous four-story building next to the Bird's Nest, the staff of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympics are working to make the blueprint of the opening ceremony a reality under the guidance of Chief Director Zhang Yimou. BOCOG invited tenders from all over the world for the design of the Olympic opening ceremony since July 2005, and received 409 letters.

The final design was approved by BOCOG and the IOC a couple of weeks ago and is known by only a few. "We've already signed a confidential contract, and cannot leak anything to the public," said Zhang. He only revealed that the opening ceremony will include three exhibitions-one covering Chinese culture, one on the spirit of modern China, and one on the Olympic spirit of the Chinese people. "Every minute of the opening ceremony should be taken seriously and cannot be mediocre," he said.

"We also focus on mass participation and mutual communication, and mix TV relay and live effects together to bring the enthusiasm of the audience into full play," said Executive Vice President of BOCOG Jiang Xiaoyu. "We hope that everybody can participate in the event."

A wonderful opening ceremony would be a great way to start the Olympics and provide the proper stage for lighting the Olympic flame, said Zhang. His idea is to make use of the characteristics of the Bird's Nest and reach the goal of integrating man and nature. "The igniting of the flame at around 11:30 p.m. on August 8 will best express Chinese traditional thoughts," he said. At present only 10 people know the secret of how the flame will be ignited. "According to the creative idea of igniting the flame, we have fixed something we need during the construction of the Bird's Nest," added Zhang.

"The large fireworks show is also a part of the ceremony," Zhang revealed. The fireworks display will demonstrate Chinese culture from ancient times to the modern day and into the future. "We will provide a show with the strongest visual impact," said Zhang.

Rehearsals for the opening ceremony will begin on March 1, and move to the Bird's Nest on June 10. The first dress rehearsal will start on July 10. "After that, large-scale rehearsals will continue until the opening ceremony," revealed Zhang.

However, according to the Director of the Beijing Bureau of Culture, Jiang Gongmin, the first performance of Beijing Olympics is not the opening ceremony, but the large torch-relay celebration evening party, which will be held in Tiananmen Square on August 7. "It will push the 130-day torch relay to the climax, and its meaning is no less than the opening ceremony," said Jiang.

The final list of torch bearers and torch guards will be released next month. The Olympic flame will be taken from the hometown of the Olympics-Olympia-at 12 a.m. local time on March 24. The first torch relay station will be Kazakhstan, after which the torch will travel to Turkey and Russia. After the relay in Saint Petersburg, it will go to London, the host city of the 2012 Olympics, then to Paris, San Francisco, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Dar es Salaam of Tanzania. The relay in Beijing will start on March 31. The global torch relay with the theme of Light the Passion and Share the Dream will begin on April 1. On May 4, the torch will arrive in Sanya, Hainan Province, from Macao and will then travel on to the highest mountain in the world, the Himalayas, at the end of May.

Accompanying the torch relay, the theme song of Beijing Olympics and Paralympics will be released on April 30, the 100-day countdown of the opening ceremony.

Before that, people who won in the lottery for opening ceremony seats will be given their seat numbers. In June, the 3.6 million tickets sold within China will be distributed, while in April, residents of China who have not bought the tickets will be able to buy directly from ticket offices at the Olympic stadiums.

In May, BOCOG will finish recruiting Olympic volunteers, and within two months after that, the Olympic Village, which is located in the Olympic Park, will open and the first group of volunteers will begin service.

In order to offer better service to guests from all over the world, the third terminal building at Beijing Capital International Airport will be put into use on February 29. It is one of the largest aviation projects in the world. The D-area of the terminal building will be specifically for guests taking Olympic charter fights.

Also in June, the first phase of the eighth subway line, or the Olympic Branch Line, will make a trial run.

Badminton Dolls

Chinese badminton fans may have a chance of winning a limited edition set of "Lucky Q Wah Dolls" designed in the likeness of badminton stars, including Li Yongbo, head Coach of the China National Badminton Team (CNBT), and winner of many Olympic golden medals, and the "dream team" that harvested the sport's grand slam.

The gifts are from FedEx Express (FedEx), a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., a major sponsor of CNBT. The company and CNBT have entered their third year of branding cooperation. The unique dolls can be won through a lucky draw on www.fedex.com/cn.