In the eventful year of 2008 which saw China hit by snow storms and a deadly earthquake, Beijing hopes to deliver a smooth Olympic Games to reverse the misfortune.
With exactly one month to go before the opening of the August 8-24 Games, preparations are all but over and the grandiose stage is already mounted, albeit concerns over security and pollution and a traumatized nation which is still mourning the dead in the May 12 earthquake.
Unlike that of previous Olympics, Beijing's prep work has kept to plan and some stadiums and infrastructure have even been finished ahead of schedule.
The city has spent 40 billion U.S. dollars on infrastructure, including a new airport terminal and subway lines, as well as 2.1 billion U.S. dollars to cover the cost of running the Games.
"Our preparatory work is well on track, and on the whole, we are almost ready for hosting the Games," said Games' chief organizer Liu Qi.
"As the construction of venues and recruitment of volunteers came to an end, Beijing would shift its focus to the service area in the following days," he added.
China's National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest," was pronounced fully operational on June 28, signaling the readiness of all 37 venues for the Games.
"The Bird's Nest is the last completed Olympic venue but the best," said Tan Xiaochun, chief of the National Stadium project.
Covering 20.4 hectares in the Beijing Olympic Green, the bowl-shaped structure with its prominent girders can seat 91,000 spectators for the Games' opening and closing ceremonies, track and field events, men's soccer, and some Paralympic events in September.
The showpiece work topped the architecture category for the 100 most influential designs in Time Magazine earlier this year.
Meantime, each of the 37 venues has been put through trial by four dozen test events, including a full track and field Olympic rehearsal for the Bird's Nest in May.
Everything seemed to be heading towards a happy ending until the calamitous quake which rocked southwestern China's Sichuan Province and already claimed around 70,000 lives.
So much on the agenda has been changed since.
The Olympic torch relay, which was meant to be a joyful event, paused on May 19 through to 21, mourning those killed in the massive earthquake.
One minute's silence is also observed at the start of each day of the torch relay following the quake and the relay in quake-hit Sichuan has been postponed until just before the Games.
Festivities and itineraries have all been scaled down while the charity donation boxes are added along the path of the flame.