BOCOG's list of restricted items
Tuesday, 15th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
If you're attending any Olympic events, leave your suitcases, long-handled umbrellas and walky-talkies at home. These and several other objects were on the list of forbidden items released yesterday by BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games). The list on BOCOG's site was preceded by four repetitive paragraphs iterating the necessity of these regulations and explaining that similar measures were taken at past games.
Wanna see the inside of the Water Cube? Leave your ammo at home.
Things on the list that could cause some confusion include "hard-packed drink and food" (does that mean glass?), "unauthorized professional videotaping equipments" (what are the guidelines to determine when a video camera is professional?) and "wireless devices that interfere with the electronic signals of the Olympic Games."
Here is the complete list:
"Restricted articles include hard-packed drink and food; fragile articles; musical instruments; carry-on bags, suitcases and handbags which are too big to carry to the seats; flags of countries and regions not participating either in the Beijing Olympic Games or Paralympic Games and other flags over two meters in length or over one meter in width; flag poles of over one meter in length; banners, leaflets, or posters; unauthorized professional videotaping equipments; knives, bats, long-handle umbrellas, long poles, sharp-ended stands for cameras and video cameras, and other objects that may cause harm and injury to people; animals (with the exception of guide dogs); vehicles (except for strollers and wheelchairs); unauthorized walky-talkies, loudspeakers, radios, laser devices or wireless devices that interfere with the electronic signals of the Olympic Games.
The rule deemed the following behavior as inappropriate: smoking at a non-smoking area; crossing over the guardrail; using umbrellas or standing up for a long period of time in the seating area, thus obstructing the field of vision of other spectators; and flash photography.
The rule banned weapons and equipment including guns, ammunition, crossbows, and daggers; fireworks, firecrackers and other flammable materials; corrosive chemicals and radioactive materials."
Tags: BOCOG, Olympics
Yao's Bed Up for Auction
Thursday, 26th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Olympics organizer BOCOG has authorized China Beijing Equity Exchange to run the auction, which China Daily says also will include "furniture and fixtures, timepieces, light bulbs and tubes, and a variety of sport equipment." Tubes? Light bulbs? That may sound ridiculous, but China doesn't have the market cornered on online auctions for pedestrian items that have crossed paths with sports stars. An apple core that Tiger Woods tossed aside at the U.S. Open was fetching $36,000 USD on eBay last time we checked.
Bids for the Olympics auction are currently capped at 1 billion yuan ($145.7 million USD), and China Beijing Equity Exchange president Xiong Yan says that discussions are underway to include some plots of land that are home to temporary venues (such as Wukesong Baseball Stadium).
Tags: auction, BOCOG, Yao Ming
Olympic Broadcasters Get Tiananmen Rights
Friday, 20th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (3)
TV networks with Olympic broadcasting rights seem to have re-secured the right to broadcast live from Tiananmen Square. According to Canada's CBC News, broadcasters held two days of negotiations with BOCOG officials late last month. NBC is declining comment on the story.
Aside from this news, it's been a somewhat rocky period of late for BOCOG's international media relations. Here are some of the things that are frustrating the foreign press here to cover Olympic preparations:
Foreign broadcasters say they are facing more red tape than at previous games, making it difficult for them to get their equipment into the country and begin logistical set-up.
Non-Chinese journalists are saying they were only allowed limited viewing of the actual torch relay in Xinjiang this week. BBC correspondent James Reynolds' blog includes some observations on the relay in Urumqi (Xinjiang's capital), as well as some background on the historical issues in the region. A few foreign journalists have been invited to watch the relay in Lhasa Saturday.
More Beijing-based journalists are complaining about the lack of access they have had to Chinese athletes. Instead of meeting athletes, they are touring venues and watching "mei nu" practice presenting medals.
Tags: BOCOG, foreign media, torch relay
BOCOG Wants You to Know
Tuesday, 17th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
A favorite template of the BOCOG online photo gallery: Bureaucrat, surrounded by fascinated guys in uniform, pointing.
Call us party poopers, but we at China Sports Today don't get very excited about most of the news that comes out of BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad). There's just so much interesting actual sports news in China, that praise of Olympic venues and statistics about how huge these games are sort of fade into the background.
But there's actually some mildly interesting stuff there, so here's a roundup of the recent BOCOG chatter:
Banned: A couple of weeks ago, BOCOG published a list of legal guidelines for foreigners coming to the games. At least originally, it was only published in Chinese. But it was translated by plenty of media outlets right away. This sentence from Danwei sums it up well:
"So it's pretty clear: No hookers, pimps, dealers, terrorists, activists, revolutionaries, missionaries, demonstrators, pornographers, gun nuts, maniacs, sufferers of mental diseases, carriers of infectious diseases, poisonous snake collectors, beggars or drunkards."
Planned spontaneity:
Image: People.com's illustrated guide to the cheer.
Ever green: BOCOG says its efforts to improve environmental issues in Beijing have aims beyond the Olympics. Here's hoping.
Neighborhood watch: The catchphrase "People's Olympics, green Olympics, high-tech Olympics," was adopted early on by BOCOG to express three things the committee wants these games to be remembered for. "Safe Olympics" hasn't been officially added to that list, but the words have certainly been used a lot recently. There's this release about Beijingers' responsibility to keep their neighborhoods safe. Then there's this Xinhua story, which looks distinctively like a BOCOG press release, about the breaking news that a Communist Party Central Committee member cares about security at the games.
Operator: The Olympic Call Center will launch July 1 to answer questions in "many languages" about Olympic match schedules, venues, tickets and cultural activities.
Relay reroute: The torch relay route has changed. Instead of going through Tibet and Qinghai as scheduled, it is headed to Xinjiang Autonomous Region this week. BOCOG has released news about the Xinjiang leg, but has not mentioned the Tibet/Qinghai leg, nor addressed whether the torch will pass through the region at a later date.
UPDATE: The torch will make an abbreviated one-day stop in Lhasa Saturday June 21.
Image: BOCOG
Tags: BOCOG, environment, security, torch relay
Another Countdown Begins
Tuesday, 25th March 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Despite tight security, disruptions occurred during BOCOG president Liu Qi's speech and during the run of the first torchbearer, Alexandros Nikolaidis. Nikolaidis handed off to Luo Xuejuan, an Olympic swimmer and the first Chinese national to carry the flame.
Image: BOCOG
Tags: BOCOG, IOC, torch relay
Torch Madness
Monday, 24th March 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The torch will arrive in Beijing on March 31, but doesn't begin its 115-city China leg in earnest until it arrives on Hainan Island on May 4. You can get your torch fix, complete with scheduling details, 3D animation and heartwarming stories here.
Image: IOC
Tags: BOCOG, Olympic torch, Olympics