500 days to go

This week we hit '500 days to go'. The occasion was marked with sporting and cultural events across the city as well as the unveiling of the official Beijing 2008 Olympic medals (..the reverse face of each medal contains a coloured jade ring linking western and eastern cultures..).

The marketing momentum is gathering pace and Beijingers will be in a total Olympic frenzy by the time the games begin. Though you can't help being caught up in the tide of enthusiasm surrounding it all. The official Beijing 2008 web site is open and accepting advance ticket registrations for China residents (that's us!) with tickets on sale as of next month. They are promising to make this an 'affordable' games for everyone, though I'm sure the key events will be very expensive and tickets difficult to get.

At the moment, every effort is being made to ensure the city and its people shows their best face to the world.

A massive cleanup of 'Chinglish' signs is taking place across the city. Over 4,000 signs containing dubious English are being systematically replaced. There is even a special website where you can report these offending signs and city workers will come along and fix them. [There is a lovely collection of these sort of signs at Engrish.com - though, to be fair, most of them are from Japan - the spiritual home of Chinglish].

If you can, be sure to visit town on the 11th of the month because every 11th of the month is 'practice how to queue' day in Beijing. Yes, Beijingers are being taught how to stand in line and wait their turn. Not something that comes naturally to them. Queuing marshalls police busy bus-stops and encourage orderly queues in the hope that in 500 days time catching a bus in Beijing will be as hassle free as hopping a tram in Zurich.

Just hope that you don't need to use a public toilet when you get off that bus.