Beijing started the image-building process for the city's 2008 Summer Olympic Games by holding a colossal Olympic design conference yesterday. The two-day conference also marked the start of a design competition for an emblem for the 2008 Games.

"We are going to let the world share the charms of the Beijing Games through an outstanding designing job," said Liu Qi, Beijing mayor and president of the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee.

Almost all the top designers in the nation and several foreign counterparts attended the conference at the Beijing International Convention Center.

Foreign Olympic designing magnates from past and coming Summer and Winter Olympic Games including 1994 Lillehammer, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2002 Salt Lake City, 2004 Athens and 2006 Torino delivered multi-media presentations. The presentations were based on previous or ongoing Olympic experiences, in the hope they could give the Beijing team some moral support.

Liu said he believes something unique and drenched with Oriental intelligence can be created with inspiration from China's 5,000-year heritage. "My wish is for you to give your best to impress the world," Liu said to the designers, many of whom had signed up for the emblem competition.

Government officials, International Olympic Committee (IOC) members and experts, IOC sponsors, public relations and media representatives also attended the meeting.

Liu said he expected heated competition. "The heated competition will stimulate the participating designers to give it their best.

"I would love to see something created that will be 'loved at first sight,' " said Liu, while displaying a sample emblem in the shape of a Chinese knot with an image of a person doing shadow boxing. The sample was used during the bid-phase.

Foreign Olympic experts, however, suggested that Beijingers should be patient and learn to accept the new design, which may prove too abstract to be favored at first sight.

"In the beginning, many did not like the emblem for the Athens Games, and now they love it," said Petter Moshus, former design director for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games and one of the judges of the competition. "I think the committee has set the standard very high, but everybody has a chance."

The competition to design two major Olympic venues - the Olympic Green, which includes the Olympic and athletes villages, and the Wukesong Sports and Cultural Center - finished one stage when the Beijing Municipal City Planning Commission ended the collection of design draft plans yesterday.

The commission received 55 plans for the Olympic Green, which included 23 from abroad and regions like Hong Kong and Taiwan, and 10 designed by cross-nation collaborations.

Another 34 drafts are for the Wukesong Center, with 12 coming from overseas and five produced by cross-nation collaborations.

The design competitions opened in April and more than 180 individuals and companies delivered proposals from April 2 to April 15.

The preliminary selection is scheduled for July 10. A 13-member judging panel will vote for eight prize-winning plans for the Olympic Green and five for the Wukesong Center.

The final decision will be made on July 14.

After the competition, an exhibit of all draft plans will be held in the Beijing International Convention Center from July 16 to 26 to allow citizens to select their personal favorites.

(China Daily July 3, 2002)