Deng reveals Olympic Village operations

Deng Yaping, deputy director of the BOCOG Olympic Village and a table tennis legend who has won four Olympic gold medals and 14 world gold medals, was recently interviewed by China.org.cn and discussed the Olympic Village with netizens.

"The Olympic Village will open starting July 20," Deng said during the interview. "Our group is the first to set off to work. Our work will last for two whole months, from July 20 to September 20, when the Paralympic Village will close."

"So our Olympic Village team has to face tough tasks during the Games."
She added that currently, her team is almost finished with a variety of jobs.

They are ready to welcome athletes and officials from 205 countries and regional delegations who will live in the Olympic Village. They conducted many rehearsals and held more comprehensive practices on July 3 and 4.

"Since no testing competition was arranged for the Olympic Village during the 'Good Luck Beijing' testing competitions, we have to test our own work, operation plans, volunteers and service staffs," Deng explained. "Therefore, related institutes' personnel were invited to the Olympic Village to attend the July 3 and 4 tests to teach us many valuable lessons and give us suggestions."

Eating at the Olympic Village

The Olympic Village will supply food similar to what has been provided at past Olympics and in line with recommendations by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and BOCOG experts.
Because a large proportion of people from many countries usually eat Western food, the Olympic Village will serve 70 percent Western food and 30 percent Asian food, which will include Japanese cuisine, Korean cuisine and some Chinese specialties. In consideration of Arab living habits, some Muslim food will also be available at the Village.

Traffic at the Olympic Village

Taking up 66 hectares, the Olympic Village features a residential zone with 42 buildings, including entertainment locations as well as an international zone with commercial streets. The Beijing Olympic Village is smaller than the Athens Olympic Village but will function similarly.

During the Games, the Olympic Village will accommodate 16,000 people, which includes 15,000 athletes and accompanying officials.

Various types of vehicles will be used inside the village. In order to demonstrate the three concepts of "High-tech Olympics, People's Olympics and Green Olympics," the Village will provide battery-powered buses, which release reduced emissions. These buses make minimal noise and so will limit potential disturbance for athletes when passing through the residential zone.

The bus routes inside the Olympic Village are organized by sport. There is a central bus station for each sport which will take passengers to its corresponding venue.

Reporters in the Olympic Village

Deng said only registered media can conduct interviews inside the Olympic Village. Each day, 400 visiting cards, which will be granted by the BOB or media management group of the Olympic Village, will be available for registered media.

Reporters with visiting cards can enter the Olympic Village international zone and cover the welcome ceremonies, commercial and service activities held there. Reporters are limited to covering these activities unless they have an appointment to interview a sportsman. Even still, the sportsman must be interviewed in a specially-arranged interview room inside the international zone.

Reporters must apply for the cards 24 hours ahead of time and they will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. No more than 400 will be distributed.

If a media outlet is invited by the Olympic Committee of a nation to interview members of its delegation, the reporter can go to the residential zone with the delegation's working staff. Otherwise, he or she cannot enter the residential zone.

If a guest is invited by the Olympic Committee of a nation, he or she also has to apply for a visiting card first. Every day, a certain number of visiting cards are available for all delegations, which varies depending on its size.

The Olympic Village does not accept visitors who have nothing to do with state Olympic Committees.

Previous Olympic Games all had such provisions, which must be carried out according to IOC guidelines, pamphlets and related principles and policies.

Olympic Village features Chinese characteristics

"The design of the Olympic Village not only satisfies IOC facilities requirements, but also tries to represent Chinese characteristics," Deng Yaping said, "We hope the athletes living here won't feel this Village is no different from the one in Athens."

Chinese cultural exhibitions will be available in the Village, such as crafts demonstrations, which will allow athletes to witness the making of Chinese art items, including hand-made crafts.

A Chinese Learning Center in the Village will provide an outlet for athletes to get closer to Chinese culture. They will even have the chance to learn Chinese calligraphy.

"Other than learning Mandarin, more interestingly, we can even name them in Chinese," Deng said. "Activities like these shall leave more impressions. And that's where our intention lies."

In addition to a sports gala, the Olympics are also a culture gala. The different cultural activities offered in the Olympic Village will emphasize this to the athletes.

During the entire Olympic period, from June to September, more than 1700 art performances representing various cultures will take place.

Olympic Village to Paralympic Village in 26 Hours

The Olympic Village will host the Paralympics athletes right after the Olympic Games' closing ceremony.

But how will the changeover occur?

Deng agreed the transformation of the Village in the short period of 26 hours for the Paralympics poses a great challenge.

Almost all the preparation work needs to be done ahead of time and that means now. The Paralympics-related preparations were well-integrated into the Olympic Village planning to make sure everything doesn't come down to the final 26 hours.

"This is because we will face too much risk if we really leave everything to that final moment," Deng said. "And good preparation in advance is the precondition for a smooth transformation."

The 26 hours will only see some insignificant change in the Village's function and appearance. Work done during this time will only account for 10 percent of the entire workload for the transformation, which should ensure a successful and thorough transformation.

Commodity house "Dream World 2008"

Houses in the Olympic Village were designed for sale after the Olympic Games.

With two years on the market already, the houses, called "Dream World 2008" have been very popular with the public. The village consists of 42 buildings, 20 six-storied and 22 nine-storied. It will potentially house more than 1,800 families. After the Paralympics, the houses will be ready for move-in for whoever has already purchased them.

"It's a very practical after-game utilization to avoid waste," Deng pointed out. "This is a practice not only seen in Beijing, but also in other former Olympic cities, like the Olympic Village in Seoul."

After the game, Guoao Investment Company will own the franchise of the Olympic Village for 30 years.