Beijing 2008 is undergoing a three-day inspection tour by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), of plans for the 2008 Games. The IOC will also be gauging the progress of preparations for 26 test events this year. Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC Coordination Commission, praised Beijing’s “new achievements” while pointing out that there is “still a lot of work that needs to be done to prepare for the Olympic Games”. Verbruggen is quoted as saying by Beijing 2008 officials that the IOC and the Beijing organizing committee intend to increase their levels of cooperation in order to “present a high-level Olympic Games to the world through our joint efforts and leave a strong impression on Olympic history”.
China is to issue a plan soon to protect the Beijing 2008 logo, said a senior trademark official Tuesday. At a news conference Tuesday Zhao Gang, deputy director of the trademark office of the State Administration for Industry and commerce, said that the new regulation is part of the country’s effort to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), including those associated with the Games next summer. He said, “we will issue a new plan soon to prevent the infringement of the Olympic logo. During the 2008 Olympic Games we will launch effective measures to ensure that this great sports event is as free as possible of any IPR violations” Zhao did not say what and when those measures would be taken.
Beijing wants to increase rail transportation to ease traffic congestions, said Liu Xioaming, deputy director of the Municipal Transportation Commission. Two hundred kilometres of rail lines will be put in operation before the 2008 Games – 270 kilometres will be made available in 2010 and 56 Kilometres should be ready in 2015 when the rail transportation will take up more than 50 per cent of the public transportation volume compared with the current level of only 20 per cent.
Another measure to ease traffic congestion is increased higher parking fees to reduce the number of parking lots. The Beijing municipal committee of communications hopes the new move will slow down the “car-purchase spree”. Liu Xiamong, deputy director of the committee said the city intends to cut the number of parking lots and raise parking fees with the second ring road. He said a detailed plan will be implemented some time this year.
Women taxi drivers in Beijing cannot have red hair or wear large earring, part of a 12-item self improvement list given to cab drivers, reports the Beijing News. Men were told not to have long hair. Also drivers who do not use their metres or refuse to pick up passengers will lose their licenses. The newspaper did not say if there would be any penalty for cab drivers who dyed their hair or broke the other guidelines.
