The work on the gala Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad is to move from the drawing board to
implementation and rehearsal "stage".
So says the 85th Executive Board meeting of the Beijing
Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)
held Thursday afternoon.
The meeting was chaired by Liu Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Secretary
of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and President of BOCOG.
Also present at the meeting was Chen Zhili, State Councilor and BOCOG First
Vice-President.
Board members received a report on the progress of the Opening
and Closing Ceremonies. To date, work on ceremonies for the Olympic
and the Paralympic Games of 2008 have made solid progress.
Evaluations of the initial storyboards are done and the ceremonies
team selected. Technical production plans are basically
finished.
The board also heard reports on the preparations for the "Good
Luck Beijing" sports events.
With the conclusion of the 2007 International Women's Football
Tournament -- the first event held in Qinhuangdao and Shenyang,
preparations for other sports events slated for this summer are
still under way.
Competition rules and schedules for all the events, including
the daily schedule, have been set and registration for each event
has started and is being promoted on the official website of the
"Good Luck Beijing" sports events.
Each of the 21 Beijing-based venues that will undertake this
year's events, along with the venues outside Beijing, will be
finished and fully operational prior to each event.
The Beijing Olympic Security Command Center is now on-line and
fully engaged in security for each event, mapping out detailed
plans to guarantee the safety of all athletics, officials and
fans.
(BOCOG July 13, 2007)