Foreigners at the Beijing Olympic Village said Tuesday they were happy with the city's weather and the food at the athletes' village.
"The weather in Beijing is good after it rained on Monday night," said Miroslav Zecic, Croatia's deputy chief of mission.
Compared with two months ago when he first came to China, Beijing now has more green trees and flowers and the city looks more beautiful, he said.
Bulgaria's chief of mission Rumiana Dineva said the food in the Olympic Village is good. "There's a wide variety of Chinese food and foreign food especially Mediterranean food," she said while taking a walk in the athletes' village.
Gianfranco Saini, head of Italy's swimming team, said the athletes had been worrying about the accommodation and air quality in Beijing before they left for China.
The team arrived in Beijing on Sunday, only to find the situation was better than expected, said Saini. "The facilities in the Olympic Village are very good, even better than those of the previous Games."
The athletes' village is quiet and comfortable to live in, he added.
Arnaldi, a technical official with Argentina's National Olympic Committee, said it is "comfortable" to live in Beijing. "It's winter now in Argentina. It's good to experience the warmth of summer during the Games."
The Olympic Village, which was officially opened on Sunday, runs 800 meters from north to south and 900 meters from west to east. It contains a main restaurant that holds 5,000 people, teahouses, coffee shops, a post office, stores, as well as cultural exhibition facilities for foreign athletes and officials.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2008)