Beijing 2008 officials said Tuesday that three “weather sentinels” in space will ensure accurate meteorological service for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games. FY-2D will be placed in orbit within a week, joining the FY-2C satellite which was sent into space in 2004. FY-3, a polar orbiting satellite, will be launched in the second half of next years and compared with geo-stationary weather satellites it offers pictures with resolutions 25 times as high. Forecasters will be able to get a “cloud map” of China every 15 minutes – half the time of the current intervals.
Before 2008 travelers from abroad will be able to read guide boards marked in at least four languages. The first two languages will be Chinese and English but the other two languages have yet to be decided. Beijing is also planning to equip some of its popular scenic areas with multilingual electronic guides.
A program called “Beijing Paralympic Games Volunteers in Action”, co-sponsored by Beijing 2008 and the China Disabled Persons Federation has been launched to check on the city’s barrier-free facilities for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. The program’s aim is to find out the real needs of disabled athletes and to provide information for preparatory work of the Paralympic Games through on-spot surveys of barrier-free facilities and services.
Beijing plans to demolish the last 22 squatter ”villages” remaining in the city by June as part of its efforts to beautify the city ahead of the 2008 Games. More than three million square metres of “illegal” structures will be destroyed during the campaign, which will focus on areas around the Olympic Village and other Games venues, reports the Beijing Daily. The villages comprise buildings housing some of the city’s huge migrant workers, a phenomenon that has appeared in cities across China as it reportedly undergoes an unprecedented urbanization process.
