• As the exclusive official video game, Beijing 2008 offers over 30 official events and national teams
• Create the atmosphere of the Olympic Host City in your own home
• Sports include: Track & Field, Aquatics, Gymnastics, Cycling, Judo, Table Tennis and Canoe-Kayak
• Online features including exhibition events and leaderboards
• New gameplay mechanics including time, rhythm, and targeting based systems

In Beijing 2008: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, players will embrace the competitive spirit of the world’s most prestigious sporting event and represent their country as they compete for the highest honor–the Gold Medal. Appearing on next generation consoles, the game promises to deliver a far more entertaining and immersive Olympic experience with superior graphics capturing the detail of each event where a fraction of a second means the difference between winning and losing.

Rating: (out of 6 reviews)

List Price: $ 19.99

Price: $ 6.98

• With exclusive interviews and commentary.
• Michael takes us on his personal journey to Olympic stardom
• Includes all his races
• Special behind-the-scenes footage.

Having stood on the gold medal podium a record 8 times during one Olympic Games, Michael Phelps now stands alone as the greatest Olympic champion in history. With exclusive interviews and commentary, Michael takes us on his personal journey to Olympic stardom. Includes all his races and special behind-the-scenes footage… a DVD to be cherished for years to come.

Rating: (out of 9 reviews)

List Price: $ 19.99

Price: $ 1.20

China campaigned for the 2008 Olympic Games with a promise to improve its sad record of human rights abuse and suppression of free speech. It promised world reporters “unfettered access” in the country and made a commitment to clean up the quality of the air in Beijing for the Olympic Games.

The fact is that Beijing has failed on every important promise it made to become the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games. Sure it spent the money to build world class Olympic venues. It even spent several billion dollars in a failed attempt to clean up its air. However, granting basic human rights, allowing free speech, and its effort to improve the quality of the air in Beijing have all turned out to be dismal government failures of Olympic proportions.

The result of all these failed promises is that China was allowed to win the 2008 Olympic Games as the host city under false pretenses. To disguise its sad failure, Beijing has taken a page out of the Nazi regime’s playbook used during the Summer Games in Berlin, Germany in 1936. During those Olympics, Berlin tried to disguise its racist policies while welcoming the world as the host city of the Games. All anti-Jewish signs were temporarily removed and newspapers toned down racist rhetoric. The Olympic Games were used as a venue to present foreign spectators and journalists with a false image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany.

Seventy years later, China is attempting to disguise its dismal failure on improving human rights, free speech, and the environment as it always does, by controlling the message and the messenger. Like Germany in 1936, it is the totalitarian regime’s message control that disguises the truth and promotes the big lie. Here is a quote from China’s official newspaper, The People’s Daily last month: “If at each Olympics people stood up and used politics to attack the host nation, where does that leave the Olympic spirit?”

There it is for all to see. The Chinese government’s Olympic year initiative to disguise its failure. In effect the government’s subtle message is that there is no Olympic Spirit in free speech. Therefore, to criticize China during the 2008 Games is against the Spirit of the Olympics. This quote comes after China’s crackdown on internal dissidents over the last several months. (See Beijing 2008: Human Right Are A Propaganda Game on eworldvu.com). Many dissidents including Hu Jia, Wang Dejia, and others have been jailed in the country since late in 2007 for not exhibiting the proper “Olympic Spirit”.

According to the London newspaper, The Mail, on Sunday February 10, 2008, China’s attempt to control free speech has now extended into a compliant United Kingdom. The paper reports that British athletes competing at this year’s Olympic Games in China are being asked to sign a contract that includes a pledge not to speak out on political or human rights issues. The Mail says a clause in the contract states that “athletes are not to comment on any politically sensitive issues.” It reports that anyone who violates the contract will be sent home from Beijing.

Potentially the pledge in the contract means that a British athlete who witnesses someone being mistreated at any time in China is forbidden from even speaking to their colleagues about it. Competitors emailing home or writing blogs will also have to exercise self-censorship or face having their Olympic dreams ended.

The pledge (which is contained within a thirty two page document that is designed to be presented to all participants on the British Olympic team ) brings back memories of the order given to England’s football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1936 which immediately created a large protest in Great Britain.

Further consider the fact that it has been reported that December 12, 2007 was the worst day in history for the measurement of air quality around the city of Beijing. Many of the world’s athletes will risk health problems due to the filthy air especially on the long distance endurance events at this summer’s Games. For this reason many teams are postponing their arrival in Beijing to just prior to the scheduled events. Years of being the world’s biggest environmental polluter could not be corrected in time for the Olympic Games. However that has not stopped these Olympic Games in Beijing from being promoted as the environmentally friendly “Green Games”.

The political reality of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is the sad spectacle of China’s ongoing human rights crackdowns on its internal dissidents. In addition, China continues to support some of the world’s worst regimes in Tibet, Myanmar, and the Sudan. It has placed world class athletes from every country in the world at risk from exposure to its filthy, polluted air. It is clearly evident that China’s commitments to the world that led it to become the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games have been broken.

Indeed, it is a record of failure of Olympic proportions; a record that China is attempting to disguise just as Nazi Germany disguised their real intentions as host of the Summer Olympics in Berlin in 1936.

• As the exclusive official video game, Beijing 2008 offers over 30 official events and national teams
• Create the atmosphere of the Olympic Host City in your own home
• Sports include: Track & Field, Aquatics, Gymnastics, Cycling, Judo, Table Tennis and Canoe-Kayak
• Online features including exhibition events and leaderboards
• New gameplay mechanics including time, rhythm, and targeting based systems

In Beijing 2008: The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, players will embrace the competitive spirit of the world’s most prestigious sporting event and represent their country as they compete for the highest honor–the Gold Medal. Appearing on next generation consoles, the game promises to deliver a far more entertaining and immersive Olympic experience with superior graphics capturing the detail of each event where a fraction of a second means the difference between winning and losing.

Rating: (out of 6 reviews)

List Price: $ 19.99

Price: $ 16.91

• 2-volume set
• Witness the most memorable Opening Ceremony in Olympic history
• The complete 4-hour extravaganza from beginning to end
• Special index allows you to easily navigate throughout the entire ceremony.

This 2-volume set is your opportunity to once again witness the most memorable Opening Ceremony in Olympic history…the complete 4-hour extravaganza from beginning to end. A special index allows you to easily navigate throughout the entire ceremony. Own the celebration that people will be talking about forever!

Rating: (out of 49 reviews)

List Price: $ 29.99

Price: $ 6.85

• Spectacular Torch Lighting from Opening Ceremony
• Selected performances from Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson
• Gold medal beach volleyball victory for Kerri Walsh/Misty May-Treanor
• Gold medal racies of Usain Bolt at 100 and 200 meters
• All U.S. Gold medal perforamances from Track & Field

4 Discs include Beijing 2008 Highlights, Michael Phelps Inside Story of the Beijing Olympics, and Beijing 2008 Complete Opening Ceremony

Rating: (out of 3 reviews)

Price: $ 14.99

The Beijing Olympics was the most-viewed event in American television history. It was also a watershed event in Chinese history.There were other significant milestones achieved during the event. It was the largest construction projects ever in China since the construction of the fabulous Great Wall of China . The Chinese Olympic Team also achieved a domination over US, with China winning 51 gold medals while the US won 36 gold medals.

It was truly a big China “coming out” party. And what a party it was! International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogue said “Thank you to the people of China. ….. these were truly exceptional games”.

Beijing Olympics was a case of triumphant strategy execution, an excellent case study of how a strategy should be executed.

All Strategy Execution Projects begin with a Big Dream

For the Chinese, the Beijing Olympics were not about making serious money.

It was about re-energizing the nation, rallying one of the oldest civilization around a cherished cause : earning international respect and admiration for China. As Chinese economy galloped at double digit growth and its cities transformed into international metropolis, China still coveted for international recognition as a Great Power. A great power capable of destroying anyone who offends the powerful Han regardless of the distance.

That dream that had gone sour when some Westerners called a proud and an ancient civilization -the sick man of Asia. Beating the west at its own game definitely has a lot of meaning for Chinese people. It was Chinese way of sweet revenge, of getting back to the west .Play western sports and beat the west fair and square.

Strategy Execution Begins with a Robust Planning Exercise done by an Empowered Steering Committee

Having studied the earlier Olympic Games, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games (BOCOG) outlined in detail the vast resources and requirements that were essential to create an infrastructure that could support such a massive sporting event. They carefully researched what worked and what did not with the Olympics, especially the Olympics at Sydney & Atlanta.

To integrate the activities of key central government ministries, the Beijing Municipal Government, and BOCOG, the Chinese government created a high-level steering committee. Creation of a steering committee is essential to successful execution of any strategy since the committee steers the project in the right direction and is empowered to make decisions. The Chinese appointed then-Executive Vice Premier Li Lanqing as the leader. The key driver of the Olympic project, Li Lanqing was empowered to take quick decisions and solicit top leadership support.

Chinese understood the need of having careful coordination among IOC,BOCOG, and Beijing city . The were lessons to be learned from poor coordination at Atlanta games, where the city was not adequately in the loop .BOCOG was staffed therefore staffed adequately with Beijing Municipal Government officials.

Buy-in of the bottom of the pyramid critical to success

Although they may give an impression of being immersed in themselves , the Chinese covet global recognition. The Olympic event stoked Chinese nationalism , and spoke to the very fabric of a proud nation. The Chinese were determined to make the Olympics a big success. Every Chinese was involved and engaged so much so that one may need to go into back of beyond to find a Chinese who did not have an awareness of or interest in the Chinese Olympics. The Olympics rings were everywhere, on the billboards in Beijing, on TV stations, even on mountain goats in the Tibet . So it was no surprise then that there were 100,000 Olympics volunteers, 400,000 city volunteers and a million social volunteers serving the Olympics and Paralympics.

Chinese have a vast human resource, and in its quest for greatness would never run short of an endless base of over a billion Chinese.

Construction of the Olympic City: Of Chinese Ingenuity, Western Design & Breathtaking Execution

To understand the whole process of how the strategy execution, we will understand two specific case-lets where the task was a gigantic one, and how it was executed to plan. We will study the making of “Bird’s Nest” and the results of a certain “Project 119″.

No stranger to grandiose and mammoth construction feats -the Great Wall, Grand Canal and Three Gorges Dam among them- China’s billion Olympic building and infrastructure binge created a massive ( billion) airport terminal and 19 breathtaking Olympic venues.

While a lot is made out of best practices and benchmarking, most transformation teams spend a lot of time re-inventing the wheel. This wastes a lot of time and resources. It is often cheaper to buy best practices and world-class experience. It is easier said than done. However the Chinese were objective enough to acknowledge that.

The Chinese are however good at using foreign talent. Most major projects, in the last few years, have been designed by foreigners. Chinese demand innovation. By turning to foreigners the Chinese are buying 30 to 40 years of experience they didn’t have.

Chinese stuck to what they knew best. Throughout history, China’s leaders have drawn on the ingenuity of China’s massive population to realize some of the world’s most spectacular construction projects. China’s low wage workers gave the foreign architects the freedom to design structures that would be prohibitively expensive to build in a western city .

Foreign architects, on their part, used technology that could be handled by crews working round the clock and at a massive speed. The buildings prefabricated window were snapped together rather than cut on-site, as they would be with more highly trained workers.

This helped the foreigners to complete most Olympic venues in a remarkably short time, often within three to four years.

And what an Olympic city the Chinese created. When the westerners got down to new international airport terminal here they were astounded by the massive architectural feat that greeted them. It was not just the space or the size, not just the infrastructure or the amenities. It was walking into a different world. And the air terminal designed by Norman Foster was just the beginning . Different Olympic venues outdid each other with their scale, the power of imagination and the brilliance of execution . The egg-shaped National Theater, the bird’s nest National Stadium , the National Aquatics Center, and Rem Koolhaas’ headquarters for the CCTV television authority surpassed many other architectural feats in recent history.

The Olympic city not only created a stunning architectural marvel, it transformed Beijing. It forced Beijing to shed its old skin. Strategy well executed invariably transforms the organization and in so doing, becomes changes the very organism that gives birth to it. Also the sheer scale of transformation , enables the change agents to provide a stimulus for fast-track completion of mega infrastructure projects, often overcoming routine organizational and bureaucratic hurdles.

Project 119 : Of Soviet Systems & Processes, Superb Focus & Great Execution

Like the Construction project , the Chinese approached the task of dominating the Olympics with top-down military style disciplined execution. The Chinese outlined their objectives, planned a program, invested considerable resources , acquired state-of-the-art technology and imported world-class foreign talent.

An estimated million was spent on each medal-winning sportsperson. The Chinese Olympic program successfully copied and adapted the systems and process used by the Soviets. The Chinese handpicked and trained two hundred thousand kids in state-run sports schools. It’s the same system the Soviets used to train gold medalists. The systems and processes are tested and robust.

However to give a necessary focus and an emotional appeal to the sporting program, the Chinese branded the project , Project 119 . Launched in 2001, Project 119 was named after the number of gold medals then offered in track and field, swimming and other water-based events like rowing, in which China was traditionally weak.

Unprecedented systemic discipline, high sport budgets, state-of-the-art foreign technology and proven international coaches have all been incorporated into Project 119. Thirty-eight foreign coaches were hired to help train China’s teams, often with the explicit understanding that they produce gold-winning athletes. The coaches focused on individual events in lieu of team sports because it is easier and efficient to invest in individual talent rather than build a team.

China won gold medals in 16 of 28 Olympic disciplines, up from 14 four years ago in Athens and 10 at the 2000 Sydney Games. While China targets greater glory in London 2012, Project 119 is not going to end anytime soon as nine-year-old Zhang Huiman is training for the Olympic gold, running 20 miles a day preparing for the games of 2020.

Every organization has its own culture and its own way of being. The Chinese approach to strategy execution will work well in big, top-driven and somewhat hierarchical organizations.

Some organizations tend to be chaotic , democratic and flat. The Chinese top down approach may not work very well there, but principles will remain the same. Get a big dream, create a team and a leader to drive it, communicate and create a buy-in of front-line staff and use robust systems and processes to execute. Do not be afraid of using outside help, brand your projects well, allocate good resources and keep the faith.

Best Olympic Gift I’ve Got – The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

 I get a gift from one of my best friends just came back from China last weekend. They were there a month because he works for a company that’s local here and is helping build a factory in China, so they brought me back Official Olympic Mascot Magnets, I was so excited to get them, and I just had to share them with you – http://china-gift-art-products.blogspot.com

 Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace — and good wishes from China — to children all over the world.

 Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow — and the Olympic Flame.

 Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

 When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

 Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

 Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace — and good wishes from China — to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow — and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

 When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

 Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

 Spreading Traditional Chinese Good Wishes Wherever They Go

 In the ancient culture of China, there is a grand tradition of spreading good wishes through signs and symbols. Each of Fuwa symbolizes a different blessing — and will honor this tradition by carrying their good wishes to the children of the world. Prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck will be spread to every continent as Fuwa carry their invitation to Beijing 2008 to every part of the globe.

 At the heart of their mission — and through all of their work — Fuwa will seek to unite the world in peace and friendship through the Olympic spirit. Dedicated to helping Beijing 2008 spread its theme of One World, One Dream to every continent, Fuwa reflect the deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Games — and to invite every man, woman and child to take part in the great celebration of human solidarity that China will host in the light of the flame in 2008.

In China’s traditional culture and art, the fish and water designs are symbols of prosperity and harvest. And so Beibei carries the blessing of prosperity. A fish is also a symbol of surplus in Chinese culture, another measure of a good year and a good life.

 The ornamental lines of the water-wave designs are taken from well-known Chinese paintings of the past. Among Fuwa, Beibei is known to be gentle and pure. Strong in water sports, she reflects the blue Olympic ring.

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace — and good wishes from China — to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow — and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

 Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

 Spreading Traditional Chinese Good Wishes Wherever They Go

In the ancient culture of China, there is a grand tradition of spreading good wishes through signs and symbols. Each of Fuwa symbolizes a different blessing — and will honor this tradition by carrying their good wishes to the children of the world. Prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck will be spread to every continent as Fuwa carry their invitation to Beijing 2008 to every part of the globe.

 At the heart of their mission — and through all of their work — Fuwa will seek to unite the world in peace and friendship through the Olympic spirit. Dedicated to helping Beijing 2008 spread its theme of One World, One Dream to every continent, Fuwa reflect the deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Games — and to invite every man, woman and child to take part in the great celebration of human solidarity that China will host in the light of the flame in 2008.

 Fuwa Beibei

The ornamental lines of the water-wave designs are taken from well-known Chinese paintings of the past. Among Fuwa, Beibei is known to be gentle and pure. Strong in water sports, she reflects the blue Olympic ring.

In China’s traditional culture and art, the fish and water designs are symbols of prosperity and harvest. And so Beibei carries the blessing of prosperity. A fish is also a symbol of surplus in Chinese culture, another measure of a good year and a good life.

Fuwa JingJing

 Jingjing makes children smile — and that’s why he brings the blessing of happiness wherever he goes. You can see his joy in the charming naivety of his dancing pose and the lovely wave of his black and white fur. As a national treasure and a protected species, pandas are adored by people everywhere. The lotus designs in Jingjing’s headdress, which are inspired by the porcelain paintings of the Song Dynasty (A.D.960-1234), symbolize the lush forest and the harmonious relationship between man and nature. Jingjing was chosen to represent our desire to protect nature’s gifts — and to preserve the beauty of nature for all generations. Jingjing is charmingly naïve and optimistic. He is an athlete noted for strength who represents the black Olympic ring.

 Fuwa HuanHuan

 In the intimate circle of Fuwa, Huanhuan is the big brother. He is a child of fire, symbolizing the Olympic Flame and the passion of sport — and passion is the blessing he bestows. Huanhuan stands in the center of Fuwa as the core embodiment of the Olympic spirit. And while he inspires all with the passion to run faster, jump higher and be stronger, he is also open and inviting. Wherever the light of Huanhuan shines, the inviting warmth of Beijing 2008 — and the wishful blessings of the Chinese people — can be felt. The fiery designs of his head ornament are drawn from the famed Dunhuang murals — with just a touch of China’s traditional lucky designs. Huanhuan is outgoing and enthusiastic. He excels at all the ball games and represents the red Olympic ring.

Fuwu Yingying

Like all antelopes, Yingying is fast and agile and can swiftly cover great stretches of land as he races across the earth. A symbol of the vastness of China’s landscape, the antelope carries the blessing of health, the strength of body that comes from harmony with nature. Yingying’s flying pose captures the essence of a species unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the first animals put under protection in China. The selection of the Tibetan Antelope reflects Beijing’s commitment to a Green Olympics. His head ornament incorporates several decorative styles from the Qinghai-Tibet and Sinkiang cultures and the ethnic design traditions of Western China. Strong in track and field events, Yingying is a quick-witted and agile boy who represents the yellow Olympic ring.

Fuwa Nini

Among Fuwa, Nini is as innocent and joyful as a swallow. She is strong in gymnastics and represents the green Olympic ring. Every spring and summer, the children of Beijing have flown beautiful kites on the currents of wind that blow through the capital. Among the kite designs, the golden-winged swallow is traditionally one of the most popular. Nini’s figure is drawn from this grand tradition of flying designs. Her golden wings symbolize the infinite sky and spread good-luck as a blessing wherever she flies. Swallow is also pronounced “yan” in Chinese, and Yanjing is what Beijing was called as an ancient capital city.

Last, if you are now Staying in Beijing for watching the 2008 Beijing Olymic Games, you can buy Olympic gifts very conveniently, according to some reports, there are many Olympic gift shops opened for business at 44 branches of the Beijing Post. Postal customers in Yayuncun, Zhongguancun and other areas around the city can now purchase officially licensed Beijing Olympic products like Fuwa toys, magnets, coins, pins, clothing, crafts, pottery, in addition special Olympic commemorative postal products issued by the China Post and Beijing Post. The participating Beijing Post branches are scattered across 18 districts and counties citywide. The Beijing Post has produced a variety of philatelic products items to commemorate the Olympics and showcase Chinese culture.

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