CHINA: Athletes to get a taste of China in Olympics village

Beijing - The Athletes Village at the Beijing Olympics will be as good as any at previous Games and is set to give guests a real taste of China.

"We want all the athletes and officials to know they are living in the Beijing Olympic Village and not anywhere else," said table tennis champion Ms Deng, who won two gold medals at both the Barcelona and Atlanta Games, quotes Xinhua news agency.

"We hope they will be impressed by the Chinese characteristics of the Village.

"It is a bit difficult because the Village is a place for the athletes to rest. We will try our best to provide cultural activities but also to retain a balance between the activities and the athletes' needs."

With such a long history, officials are having some difficulty in deciding what to include in the cultural programme, but exposing their guests to genuine Chinese cuisine would definitely be part of the plan, Ms Deng said.

"Chinese food is popular around the world but if you have Chinese food in the UK, for example, the flavour is slightly different," she said.

"Beijing duck in London and Beijing duck in Beijing is totally different. I don't know which one is better, we'll let the athletes and officials decide."

Ms Deng, who is working with the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG) and studying for a PhD at Britain's Cambridge University, said the desire for exposure to other cultures was not all one way.

"A lot of Chinese people want to take advantage of the Olympic Games to learn more about the world," she said.

Ms Deng said security was not the responsibility of her department but she was certain it would be tight.

"For sure, the Athletes Village will be heavily protected," she said. "We don't want anything to happen in our village."

The Village will open on 27 July, two weeks before the Games officially open on 8 August.

Meanwhile, Beijing Olympics organisers have told those who have secured seats for the opening and closing ceremonies to submit photographs before they get their tickets.

"To ensure security, eradicate fake tickets, control speculative ticket reselling, and safeguard the lawful interests of the majority of the buyers, a real-name entry system will be applied for the opening and closing ceremonies," they said.

Buyers living on the Chinese mainland needed to fill out a form with a recent photo on it, to be submitted to the BOCOG with a copy of their identification cards before the end of January according to a statement released by the organisers.

It did not say if the rule applied to those who bought the tickets outside the Chinese mainland.

Some 26 000 tickets for both the opening and closing ceremonies, which will take place at the 91 000-seat Bird's Nest National Stadium, were allocated by lottery in the first phase of ticket sales last year.

The tickets for the ceremonies, which cost up to 5 000 yuan ($690.20), were among the most in demand and applicants were restricted to one per person.

Successful applicants will be able to apply for one re-assignment of each ticket.

Seven million tickets for the 8-24 August Games will be made available to the general public with nearly three-quarters reserved for Chinese mainland residents.

Seat numbers will be allocated in March and successful applicants will be able to pick up their tickets in June and July. – BuaNews-Xinhua