The Beijing News reported Monday that organizers of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games want the torch relay to pass through Taiwan. The newspaper quoted Liu Qi, president of Beijing 2008 as saying in a television interview, “the domestic torch relay should cover as much ground as possible and involve all China’s provinces, regions and peoples, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan”.
According to Liu, China’s marketing campaign for the Games was going so smoothly that income should far surpass the original budget of $1.625 billion. “our marketing efforts are going well, so there is a very high possibility for setting low ticket prices”, he said.
Beijing’s Olympic costs are expected to be around $1.6 billion, a fraction of the $37 billion budgeted to beautify the city and build infrastructure, including venues valued at $2 billion.
Liu said construction was on schedule, but a bigger hurdle would be improving the manners of Beijing’s citizens. “We need to work on getting people to stand in line, not spit on the street or litter, be polite and especially to be friendly and welcoming to guests”, he said.
