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Essential Question: //H as Beijing changed for better or for worse in preparing for the Olympics? //   **Research questions:** (Recent Update: Answers!!)

~ In what year was Beijing awarded the Olympics?


 * Keywords:** 2008 Olympics, Beijing Olympics, Olympic Committee

Beijing was celebrating its **award of the 2008 Olympics on July 13, 2001**, winning the games for the world’s most populous country for the first time. The International Olympic  Committee picked China over rival bids from Toronto; Paris; Istanbul, Turkey; and Osaka, Japan. Beijing won on the second round of a secret ballot by receiving 56 votes, three more than a majority.   ~ How high was Beijing's crime rate before being promised the Olympics compared to now?


 * Keywords:** "Bejing's crime rate", "Beijing's old crime rate"

The number of criminal cases in the country dropped slightly last year after rising for two consecutive years, pushing up the public's sense of security. ****Police handled about 4.64 million criminal cases last year, down 1.5 per cent over the previous year****, according to figures released by the Ministry of Public Security yesterday. It is the first drop since 2002, when 4.33 million criminal cases were recorded, a fall from 4.45 million for the previous year, ministry spokesman Wu Heping told a press conference. There were 4.39 million cases in 2003 and 4.71 million in 2004. Violent crimes including explosions, arson, murder, rape and kidnapping saw **a sharp drop of 14.8 per cent** because of a series of police crackdowns. **(From 2006)** <span style="font-size: 170%; color: rgb(161, 33, 232); font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 140%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="color: rgb(76, 240, 172)"><span style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5)"> ~ What did Beijing do to be awarded the Olympics?


 * Keywords:** Beijing, Olympics, Olympic Committee

“We are totally aware at the IOC there is one issue on the table ... and that is human rights,” IOC director general Francois Carrard said. “Human rights is a very serious issue in the entire world ... It is not up to the IOC to interfere in this issue, but we are taking the bet that seven years from now, we sincerely and dearly hope we will see many changes.”   But many IOC members — as well as some politicians — embraced the position that the Olympics would promote positive change in the country of 1.3 billion people. Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state who helped open China to the West in the 1970s and is now a ceremonial member of the IOC, agreed the victory “will have a positive impact.”   IOC officials said China deserves to host the games because it is a rising sports power which has been a force in the Olympics since returning to the games in 1984 after a 32-year absence. <span style="font-size: 170%; color: rgb(161, 33, 232); font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 140%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"><span style="color: rgb(76, 240, 172)"><span style="color: rgb(5, 5, 5)"> ~ <span style="color: rgb(11, 10, 10)">What has Beijing done to prepare for the Olympics?


 * Keywords:** Beijing, Olympics, Preparation

**China’s people, and the work they have done over the past seven years, shined through the smog Thursday as Beijing prepared for tonight’s Opening Ceremony. Landscapers have blanketed the city in flowers and banners. Workers keep every street, sidewalk, hallway and bus spotless. The 1.7 million volunteers speak English cheerfully and practically step on each other in their rush to open doors and answer questions.** Only four years ago, Olympic officials sweated through the runup to the Summer Games as Athens dawdled its way to a just-in-time finish. China already was pouring concrete and pounding nails. Of all the concerns hovering over these Olympics — crackdowns on protesters, smog, censorship, human rights issues — China’s enthusiasm to welcome the world never wavered, ensuring the country will be ready when the red curtain rises tonight. “Everything is as good as you will ever see,’’ said Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee. “If I was to issue a gold medal, I’d issue the first one to the people of Beijing. “The people you meet in the streets are kind and friendly,” Ueberroth added. “They have planted enough flowers to cover six cities. The volunteers are working at every stop along the way. The only pay they will get will be to make their country proud, and I think they’ll achieve that.” First cranes, now a Bird’s Nest In its rush to be accepted as a modern nation, China devoted unprecedented human and financial resources to these Games. Olympic visitors have flown into a new airport terminal and gaped at the Bird’s Nest national stadium — where the Opening Ceremony will take place — and the Water Cube, two of the world’s most distinctive sports arenas. They were part of a $40 billion building boom in which construction cranes were considered part of China’s urban landscape. But the Olympics do not thrive by capital investment alone. While the sparkling Olympic villages, sleek venues and modern roadways were being constructed, more than a million volunteers were learning English and polishing their manners in order to impress the world. “I don’t even know the city,” said Jun Gao, a U.S. table tennis player who won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics for her native China. “There are so many places I don’t recognize. It is modern, clean, very good. It’s a big difference.” Unlike Athens — where dusty, unlandscaped areas surrounded the venues because there wasn’t time to plant anything — Beijing has been lovingly groomed by people bursting with national pride. The citizens appear to be obeying the anti-smog rules that allow only half of the city’s 3.3 million vehicles on the road each day, despite the fact that chronically high humidity and opaque air seem to render that a moot point. Minding their manners Already known for the hospitality of its people, China has placed a premium on decorum. Signs posted in buildings and on streets remind people not to spit and to stand in line. Wednesday night, when China’s women’s soccer team upset Sweden, volunteers in the Main Press Center let out a collective shout — only to quickly shush each other so as not to seem impolite. Their friendliness, though, is irrepressible. At one Olympic village, every door is staffed around the clock with smartly dressed young people who open it with a hearty greeting in English. Volunteers insist on leading visitors to destinations, offer to photograph them with Olympic mascots and wipe tables before the seats get cold. “The people have been so nice,” said Lisa Leslie, captain of the U.S. women’s basketball team. “When I arrived at the hotel, they already had a crib for my baby in the room, with a teddy bear in it. They have gone above and beyond.” Expect to see China’s readiness on the playing fields, too. After the 2001 vote that named Beijing the host city, the country embarked on Project 119. Named for the number of medals up for grabs in sports such as swimming, track and field and rowing, the program poured millions of dollars into developing elite athletes that could help China win the gold-medal race. The country will field its largest delegation ever with 639 athletes. China won 32 gold medals in Athens, second only to the United States, and is predicted to stand atop the overall medal count for the first time — and maybe not the last. “These will be perhaps the most competitive Games in history,” Jim Scherr, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said. "The majority of pollsters are picking China to win the gold-medal count. They have created a formidable system we will have to contend with for a very, very long time. We know they are here to stay.” Being mindful guests While athletes and officials from around the world laud the people and the city, the uneasy undercurrent of politics continues to flow beneath the high-gloss veneer of these Games. U.S. Olympic officials have been walking a very thin diplomatic line this week as they try not to offend their hosts or upset their own athletes.

<span style="font-size: 170%; color: rgb(161, 33, 232); font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 140%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"> ~ How has Beijing's actions to improve affected them?


 * Keywords:** Beijing, Olympics preparation

In a December 2007 report, the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) estimated that as many as 1.5 million Beijing residents will be forced from their homes in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. COHRE reported that more than 1.2 million people have already been uprooted in Beijing as a result of infrastructure projects linked to the summer Games. The Geneva-based organization estimates that 15,000 people are evicted every month in Beijing, often in poor neighborhoods, in a brutal and arbitrary manner with inadequate compensation. The pre-Olympic “clean-up” of Beijing also has forced the closure of dozens of schools for children of migrant laborers, threatening to leave tens of thousands of children without access to education, a violation of the Chinese government’s obligations under international law. In mid-September 2006, Beijing municipal officials suggested expelling up to one million migrant workers before the opening of Games. Beijing as well as other major cities regularly engage in “clean up” operations before international events or important domestic events, rounding up petitioners, protesters, beggars and undocumented migrant workers. Human Rights Watch is calling on the Chinese government to cease forcible evictions, provide due process in eviction cases, fairly compensate those individuals and families who have already been moved, and make a commitment to ending the pre-Olympic “clean-up” of residents including migrant workers and their children**.** <span style="font-size: 170%; color: rgb(161, 33, 232); font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 140%; color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">

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