Press conference on the operation of the Olympic Village

活動標題

• Press conference on the operation of the Olympic Village

活動描述

• On August 15, Deng Yaping, former Olympic table tennis champion, Deputy Director of the BOCOG Olympic Village and the spokesperson, briefs the media on the operation of the Olympic Village. China.org.cn presents live Webcast.

文字內容：

• Wang Hui:
  

  Today is the seventh day since the Olympic Games flame was lit. We know that all of us are very concerned about the operation including the Olympic Village. So far many athletes and NOC offices have moved in. Almost 10,000 have moved in. I know that you are very concerned about the operation of the Olympic Village. We are very happy to have with us Ms. Deng Yaping. We know very well about her. She was a sports star -- she was the world champion and a four-time Olympics gold medalist. But now she has converted her capacity into an Olympic Village official. So today we are very happy to have her with us to brief you on this issue.

  2008-08-15 13:58:13

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Ladies and gentlemen, friends from media, good afternoon! It is my honor and pleasure to meet you here. Starting from 27 July, the opening of the village, it had been 20 days. On 25 July I gave a briefing on behalf of Olympic Village team to the media. This time I will give you a briefing on the operation since the opening of the village on 27 July. I'm very glad to give you this briefing. I can say that since the starting day of the Olympic Village, through the collaboration of IOC and staff members, athletes, coaches and journalists including you and other accredited media, our work in the village is going well. Our work has been commended from athletes and officials from different countries. We provide services to athletes, giving them a safe and cozy home so that they can live in a relaxing manner in the village, which helps boost their performances. Now I will give you a better picture of our services.

  2008-08-15 14:00:27

• Deng Yaping:
  

  9993 rooms and 42 buildings in the Olympic Village have received 14,268 athletes and officials from 204 countries and regions. On the peak day of 5 August we received 97 delegations. Now all the delegations have moved into the village.

  2008-08-15 14:01:40

• Deng Yaping:
  

  According to our figures, till 14 August a total of 273,627 athletes and officials have been to the main dining hall and that is a world record. We can also assert our best service in accommodation, for instance, the launderettes have been kept very busy on 12 August, 12,003 bags of clothes being processed. To satisfy the demands of delegations, we extended the service hours from 15.5 hours to 18 hours -- from 6 am to midnight. And we have also added express laundry service which is a great convenience to athletes.

  2008-08-15 14:03:29

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Apart from that, we have a lot of cotton textiles and we replace the cotton textiles often. 7,674 pieces of cotton textiles were replaced including bed sheets, pillowcases, which is 2- 5% more than the daily figures in previous Games.

  2008-08-15 14:05:31

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Our religious service center with 69 professional religious volunteers provides round-the-clock service. Up to yesterday, the service center has received 665 athletes and officials.

  In transport, we have also made great effort. On the day of the opening ceremony, the transport operated from 1745-1945. We organized 320 vehicles to ferry athletes and officials in six groups to the destination. This is also something quite unprecedented in history and it has won positive appraisal from many people.
  

  2008-08-15 14:07:24

• Deng Yaping:
  

  In addition, the village has also provided rich culture life to residents. So far the exhibition areas and the streets in the plaza have receives 3,000 person-times of athletes and coaches and have a daily visit of 200 people. The Chinese language section has attracted 1,100 people. We also have provided art performances. Up to yesterday we have presented 18 art performances attracting thousands of people.

  2008-08-15 14:09:17

• Deng Yaping:
  

  The second part of my briefing has something to do with the care of village residents from the host nation. To provide good services and a warm and cozy environment for every village residents is the final goal of our staff members. We have made fine arrangement to make sure we reach this goal. After winning a medal, athletes will receive congratulating messages and a toy panda wearing a Qipao. Each delegation on arrival displays flags and banners outside buildings so people can distinguish which delegation is living in which building. So our staff members can offer ideas and tools to them. Another aspect has to do with visits by world leaders to the village and in this aspect we have also offered help. Such kind work has been greatly appraised by many people.

  2008-08-15 14:11:19

• Deng Yaping:
  

  We have so far received 49 letters of appreciation from different delegations and the thick guest book is filled with comments and best wishes from different delegations.

  We highlight specialty and quality. We have hired experienced international catering companies. There are different sections including international food; dishes provided totaling 460. To ensure athletes can enjoy Chinese cuisine, we provided 300 roasted Peking ducks a day, and now this figure has been doubled because we see athletes enjoy the dish.
  

  2008-08-15 14:13:30

• Deng Yaping:
  

  So far we have purchased 960 tons of food which are 100 percent safe upon testing.

  In terms of recreation, we highlight relaxing atmosphere and interaction. In the Chinese language quarter, having a Chinese name is very popular among the athletes, with 350 of them getting their Chinese names here.

  The handicraft quarter is also quite popular among the athletes, officials and journalists. Performances in Olympic Village Club include renowned rock and pop music bands and Chinese and folk music troupes. With more delegations are moving in, we see growing number of audience from 87 in first performance to current 600-800.
  

  2008-08-15 14:15:39

• Deng Yaping:
  

  In relate to religious service, we have 69 volunteers who provide round the clock service in six languages: English, Arabic, French, Italian, Korean and Hebrew. So far our Religious Service Center has conducted 3 masses and 3 Sunday services. August 8 is a holiday of Islam. 89 athletes and officials from 12 countries came to attend this service. They spoke highly of our staff's professional knowledge, skills and services.

  2008-08-15 14:17:17

• Deng Yaping:
  

  On August 3, three solemnly looking foreign visitors came to our Religious Service Center. One of them was extremely sad as his mother passed away the day before and asked if the center could hold a prayer for his mother according to his country's religious tradition. The pastor at the center did the service for him immediately. At the second service, the pastor again urged those present to pray for him and his mother. When he left the service center, he said he felt calm.

  We have also done a lot in areas of security, logistics and medical care to make sure our home is quite comfortable.
  

  2008-08-15 14:19:01

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Since the opening of the Olympic Village, we have broken 4 historical records: First, we had a record high number of athletes having their meals at the main dining hall. From 10 am to 7 pm on August 8, a total number of 18,634 athletes had meals at the dining hall, surpassing 9,876 of Sydney Games and 10,515 of Athens Game. We succeeded in providing service to the athletes at the peak hours.

  2008-08-15 14:20:41

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Second, we have received the greatest number of VIPs and they were all very high ranking. Some people described the situation as: In the Olympic Village you may turn around and bump a president. We received 62 state leaders including Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. President of IOC Jacques Rogge stayed in the village for 3 days in a row. When he did morning exercise, the athletes thanked him for providing a wonderful home to them. Mr. Rogge said that the Beijing Olympic Village does not belong only to the Chinese people but to everyone in the world.

  2008-08-15 14:22:25

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Third, the Beijing Olympic Village is the greenest among all Olympic villages. On August 13, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson honored a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold award to the Village. He called the village an example of US-China cooperation in energy conservation and environmental protection, saying the Beijing Games have the best environmental protection in Olympic history.

  2008-08-15 14:23:17

• Deng Yaping:
  

  The Beijing Olympic Village uses solar cells and geothermal heat pumps to better protect the environment. I will give you more information concerning the treatment of domestic garbage as an example. Everyday in the Olympic Village there is a great amount of domestic garbage. We need to provide treatment to 6 tons of kitchen garbage and transport 52 tons of garbage out of Beijing, and in the Olympics Village the most advanced bio-treatment system has been used. 93% of the garbage has been transferred into resources. Hot water in the Olympics Village all comes from integrated solar energy heating systems, which can save about 500 kilowatt of electricity per year.

  2008-08-15 14:25:08

• Deng Yaping:
  

  There is also the micro-energy consuming lighting. 8 percent of the energy of this building comes from renewable resources, including wind energy heating and cooling. Such a system will last long after the games, just as the winning of an Olympics gold medal lasts through history.

  And fourth, we staged a welcome to athletes. At 20:15 PM on Aug 9, we held the last welcome ceremony for the Nicaragua delegates. Within 13 days, we organized 62 welcome ceremonies for delegations from 204 countries and regions. All the welcome ceremonies were made very well. No mistake was made about flags and songs, and all were greatly praised by VIPs and delegations. Thanks to the hard work of staff members, we achieved what we planned for, which was zero mistakes.
  

  2008-08-15 14:27:43

• Deng Yaping:
  

  The Beijing Olympic Village has been hailed by athletes, officials, and heads of state. The IOC president said of it: The Olympic village of Beijing is most beautiful one, and the Chinese people should be proud of this work for the Olympics village. Michael Phelps and other athletes say that the facilities of the village are the greatest.

  Behind these words are Chinese people's passion and sincerity. From 2001 to 2008 we have tried our best to make a difference. And this concludes my briefing to you.

  2008-08-15 14:29:42

• Wang Hui:
  

  I think that many of the journalists haven't been to the Olympic Village, but I think through her brief you may get a taste of the village.

  Now we will open the floor to journalists for questions.

  2008-08-15 14:30:22

• CCTV website:
  

  We know that you are a former world champion and now at managerial post in the Olympic Village. Does your experience as an athlete help your current work? My second mention is you said a number of officials and athletes praised the village very highly so as far as you're concerned what score would you give to you and your team?

  2008-08-15 14:32:05

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Thank you. Of course my experience as an athlete helps me a lot in my current work and I am not the only one with athlete background in my team and also we have a lot of experienced athletes and coaches who have lived in Olympic Villages of previous games to provide us with a lot information and suggestions. In addition, we also have with us many experts who have been involved in previous games and also provide us with many good suggestions. In this process we have learned a lot and one of the comments we were given is we are a team and this is really our work. It's still too early to give a final conclusive assessment of our work because our village will stay open till 27th. It is not the right moment to make the conclusion so I will leave it to the last day but so far our work has received many mentions.

  2008-08-15 14:34:54

• Australian reporter:
  

  We know that so far the hard and software services have been spoken highly of by many athletes and officials. But we know that as these athletes and officials come from different countries and have very different habits so I would like to know so far any suggestions you have received in response? What measures have you taken?

  2008-08-15 14:36:40

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Thank you. You raised a very good question and we know that all these athlete come from 204 countries and regions around the world so the Olympic Village is virtually world village and they have very different living habits and cultural backgrounds. One important thing we have done is to learn lessons from previous Olympic Games which is very important. You know what is most important for an athlete is to eat well and be well accommodated for good rests which will help them perform well for the Games. For instance: one thing is the food. 70% of food provided for the Games is international flavor including Mediterranean and 30% is of Asian flavor including Japanese, Korean and Chinese, including the Peking Duck I mentioned earlier. So in this way we are trying to cater to different diet habits to the athletes. Aside from there, we have Islamic and Jewish food. The reason why we have been able to get high appraisement from some officials is that we have learned previous lessons.

  2008-08-15 14:38:33

• Reporter from Changsha, Hunan Province:
  

  We learned that the Olympic Village houses many world renowned athletes and some political leaders who also come to visit, so what security measures have you taken to ensure the safety?

  2008-08-15 14:40:25

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Yes indeed in history of the Olympic Villages there occurs some undesirable occurrences, so security is one of the top priorities for the Olympic Village team, and we are doing our best to prevent such undesirable things from happening. We have taken all necessary security measures to ensure athletes are safe in the Olympic Village and can lead comfortable life here. In regards to the visits they usually stay no more than 30 minutes as they are very busy. Of course during their visits we also guarantee security and there is no inconvenience involved as their visits are only a temporary visit.

  2008-08-15 14:42:44

• Qilu Evening News:
  

  The first question has something to do with design of the Olympic Village. We know the design is perfect and after the Paralympics, this village will be turn into civilian housing. But before that do you have a plan to open this village to the public as many of ordinary people do want to go there and have a look? The second question is we know there are a lot of Chinese elements incorporated into the Olympic Village and what kind of comments have you received from athletes about them? Are there any instances when they failed to understand traditional Chinese customs, and what happened? Thirdly I am a great fan of yours and I know you have a great personal friendship with Mr. Samaranch. So during his visits, do you have any special plans?

  2008-08-15 14:44:41

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Thank you first. As for the Olympic Village – whether it will be open to the public, the answer is no after the Olympics. As we have to make every athlete safe in the Olympic Village and there are only 26 hours of transition period when the Olympic Village is converted into the Paralympics Village, so we will not open the village. As this village will be turned into common housing after the closing of Paralympics on 20th of September, the public will get a chance after 20th of September.

  2008-08-15 14:46:09

• Deng Yaping:
  

  And the second question you wondered the Chinese elements. In general the hardware the facilities have been designed and constructed in accordance with instructions from IOC and its technical manual. One very special place is the mass space used to be a dragon cave temple with a history of more than 500 years and that means it was made in the Ming Dynasty and we used it to convert it into the office of our director where she can receive VIPS. This mass space is a very traditional Peking court house and seemed to be popular among our athletes and officials as it is open to them and they come a lot to visit and take pictures and it is surrounded in red walls.

  2008-08-15 14:48:50

• Deng Yaping:
  

  As for Samaranch, we came to know in 1991, when he first brought me the medal and he awarded medals to me in other events -- five times, and we are greatly thankful for his friendship to china. The other day he came to Olympic Village and he said he is very happy to see China fulfill its promise made to the Olympic community when it made the bid.

  2008-08-15 14:50:39

• Reporter:
  

  Just now you mention that eating well and having good accommodation are prior and maybe my question is not so hard. My question is about the stores on communal streets in the Olympic Village. You have organized a bookstore in the Olympic village. It has 150 kinds of newspapers and more than 1,000 books on sale in this bookstore. Madame Deng have you ever been to this bookstore and what kind of comments from the athletes and officials this bookstore received? What comments from the IOC?

  2008-08-15 14:52:37

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Talking about this bookstore I should say that everything is going very well. Postcards and books about china are popular for readers and at every Games there are bookstores for athletes and officials, to let them know about latest news. And this is a requirement by the IOC community. And our athletes have been happy with it and everything is done according to the requirements set by the IOC and everything is going well.

  2008-08-15 14:54:34

• CSPN:
  

  I think that Madame Deng is too popular, not any less popular than when you were an athlete. And now that you are a manager of Olympics village not a villager, how do you feel? Do you feel anything different as director of the Olympic village?

  2008-08-15 14:56:46

• Deng Yaping:
  

  I am the vice director of the Olympic Village. The director is Chen Zhili. Also we have several other vice directors of the village. Our service is to help athletes in the Olympic Village. I used to stay in Olympics Village and I know what the needs of the athletes are, so this is the biggest help to me as I try to arrange the village. We now have a big team of staff members serving 10,000.

  
  When I was an athlete although I had so many team members and coaches standing beside me, still it is a team now we have a much bigger team we have more than 10,000 people working with us and only on the volunteers we have 4,470 volunteers working together. This is a much bigger team working together to serve and we need to have a team spirit and team spirit is something in common with my life as an athlete.
  

  2008-08-15 14:58:09

• Haixia Zhisheng Radio:
  

  On the fourth of August, the team of Chinese Taipei entered the Olympic Village when they received a wonderful welcome ceremony there. What are other special arrangements of this team?

  2008-08-15 15:00:07

• Deng Yaping:
  

  We have 204 delegations from different regions and countries in the world. Delegations, big or small, received equal treatments from the Olympic Village. So we have no special treatment to the Chinese Taipei delegations but several days ago we did receive Mr. Wu Boxiong and his wife, and Mr. Song Chuyu also came to the Olympic Village.

  2008-08-15 15:02:54

• Chinese Biz News:
  

  I have two questions. The first is the Beijing Olympics Village is dubbed the "Green Olympics village" and the "Harmonious Olympics village". Of this Olympics Village, what are the things you are most satisfied with and what are things you think should be improved in the future? The second question is: This time you received so many VIPs from all over the world. How do you arrange these people's schedules in Beijing? And how do you arrange security for these people for the smooth process of their stay in Beijing?

  2008-08-15 15:04:30

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Indeed, from the opening of Olympics Village until now, we have received so much praise about our efforts every day. Every other day, we host a panel of delegations meeting to ask us questions and to get help to solve their questions. It is the requirement that we must reply to their questions between 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning, or must make perfect responses to their questions no later than 3 pm in the afternoon. So we have been working very hard to make responses to their questions and right now they are very happy with work because until now, we have received no complaints about our service and work in the Olympics Village.

  2008-08-15 15:06:56

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Of course the Beijing Olympics Games have not ended, so we should still make efforts in this regard, but this is a welcome development in the Olympics Village. We in the meantime want to leave athletes with very good and deep Chinese impressions. That was why we had so many exhibitions and shows. Learning Chinese and buying handicrafts and seeing shows are very popular with athletes. And even before we showcase them in the morning, many athletes are already waiting for the opening of the shows. With respect to political leaders coming to the village, their purpose is mainly to see their athletes and have a tour of the village. Some political leaders even had their meals in the dining hall of the village, and we are here to provide assistance to them. Thank you.

  2008-08-15 15:08:01

• Chinese Women Newspaper:
  

  In an interview with you during a Chinese TV session, you said the biggest legacy left by the Olympics Games should be talented people. So could you just tell us: What is your latest feeling on this comment, according to the latest experiences of your colleagues? And can I ask another question, to ask who and what is the thing that touched you the most?

  2008-08-15 15:10:38

• Deng Yaping:
  

  The Olympics Games' legacy will not only be venues. More importantly, we will have very good humorous stories left from the Olympics Games for the Chinese people. One thing that is very important is that we have a very rich knowledge of the Olympics Games. The people organizing the Olympics Games over the past have gotten very familiar with IOC delegates and various handbooks and most importantly, we are very familiar with the work style and work process of other countries. In the future, this will be a great help for us to organize future events. This will not be achieved overnight; we have to spend so much energy to change work habits. So the legacy constitutes not only Olympics venues, but human resources. For example, during the welcome ceremonies, in the Olympics Village our goal was no mistake could be made. During the procession, we have to raise flags and play songs of 204 delegations around the world. This is not a problem that is not easily solved because national songs have different sounds and volume.

  2008-08-15 15:12:47

• Deng Yaping:
  

  It's very difficult for the volunteers to have good timing when they raise flags and play the songs. Every day in morning, the volunteers have to start practice as early as 5:00. The welcome ceremony starts at 10 am and ends at 8:30 pm. They have to make accurate control of the time to even within a second. This effort was greatly hailed by delegations at the village, and officials said they have never seen something like this at the Olympics Games. So this touched me the most.

  2008-08-15 15:14:45

• China Press USA:
  

  Before the opening of the Beijing Olympics Games the Western media talked lots about the religious observation at Olympics Village and we also talked about this subject. I wonder how many of the 69 providing service at the village are priests from western countries? And how do you distribute Bibles in Olympics villages? Do you provide a Bible in every room or provide one when needed. The next question is a personal one. I wanted to know what your plans were following this organizing position at the Olympic Games?

  2008-08-15 15:16:27

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Talking about the religious center at the Village, which is a great concern for many people. For now this religious service has won lot of praises. Among this center's staff volunteers, many of them have studied overseas or are from foreign countries. According to IOC we provide big services in big religions of the world. And talking about the Bible, the Bible is displayed in the service centers for athletes and officials to read. It's a nice place and in a very good location.

  2008-08-15 15:18:37

• Deng Yaping:
  

  Right now we are trying very hard to do a good job for the Olympics and Paralympics games, which will end on the twentieth of September. And this experience will never be forgotten by me, so I hope that I will be said to have done a great job. I will have to think of my future plans later.

  2008-08-15 15:20:31

• Wang Hui:
  

  This concludes today's press conference. Before we leave we want to thank you for your support and your care, thank you.

  2008-08-15 15:22:04

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