As most Chinese prepare to watch sports in front of their TVs on the eve of the Beijing Olympics, Yan Mingxing, a graduate student of Harbin Institute of Technology, will spend Friday night on a train going back to school.

However, he will not miss the event.

"I have a laptop and a wireless LAN adapter. I will watch it online. It's free," said the 25-year-old man.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has listed the Internet and cellphone media as independent broadcasting organizations for the first time in Games' history, which makes watching the sporting spectacular online possible.

CCTV.COM, a subsidiary of the state China Central Television, was the only accredited online broadcasting organization for the Games in the country. It had signed agreements with nine major websites nationwide to broadcast the Games online.

The number of Chinese netizens reached 253 million through June, up 56.2 percent from 162 million in 2007, the most in the world, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said in a report released last month.

"For those who have to work in the office on Friday evening, the Internet enables them to embrace the event without regret," said He Yong, an International Fund for Animal Welfare China Office official.

"We can also review the game videos as we like and read relevant articles and pictures," he said.

About 64 percent of the online population was expected to watch the Olympics online, according to the latest research released by Ogilvy.

"I'm afraid the network runs slowly and pictures would be suspended because of the numerous viewers watching the event at the same time," said student Yan.

To solve this problem, CCTV.COM has spent four months setting up 12 portal websites in 10 major cities. The website can support eight million people watching the video at the same time, said Luo Li, a website executive.

Netizens could also make comments and chat with each other as they watched the Games, Luo said.

The website has 28 live channels, including all the major sport programs. It also provides 3,800 hours of game videos for viewers to choose, she said.

In the meantime, netizens could exchange viewers with each other through various Olympic blogs, podcasts and online forums.

"With the Internet, wherever you are, you will not be watching the game alone," Yan said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2008)