Let the bidding begin

OLYMPIC FEVER IS already beginning to grip Beijing. But the posters in the city subway and the wide coverage in the mainland press are not for the opening of next month's Games in Australia. The publicity instead envisages the glory of hosting the Olympics in eight years' time.

After bitter disappointment at its narrow loss to Sydney for the 2000 Games, the city officially applied last month to hold the 2008 Olympics. And next Tuesday is the deadline for submitting bids to the city government for the design of the main stadium and other facilities.

For Ryu Choon-soo, one of South Korea's best-known architects, the moment has come to give Beijing the Games. 'China is the world's largest [populated] country. It wants to host the Games and it has the ability,' said Mr Ryu, who will submit a joint bid to design the Beijing stadium with Taiwan and mainland architects. About 30 bids are expected from China and abroad.

'After Seoul was awarded the 1988 Games, we prepared for seven years, counting down each day on an electronic clock. It meant so much to us, as it would to the Chinese,' said Mr Ryu, who designed the Seoul stadium where the 2002 soccer World Cup will begin.

In 1993, Beijing lost by just two votes to Sydney in the vote for the 2000 Games. It did not bid for 2004 but decided to try again for 2008. Mainland newspapers have begun carrying supportive messages from national leaders and members of the public. All this is in anticipation of when the bidders encounter the first hurdle, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), at the end of next month which will pick the final four or five candidates. Feverish lobbying will climax next year when the winner will be chosen.

Beijing has a strong case. Asia, home to a majority of the world's population, has hosted the Games only twice, in Tokyo in 1964 and Seoul in 1988. China is one of the world's premier sporting nations, finishing fourth in the medals table in the past two Olympics, in Barcelona and Atlanta. Beijing has 5,750 sports venues, of which eight can hold more than 5,000 people. It hosted the Asian Games in 1990 and will host the 21st World University Games next year. Its infrastructure has improved since it bid in 1993 for the 2000 Games. For example, a new international airport that can handle 35 million people a year opened at the end of last year.