'A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step'

999 days to go

And so the clock ticks down to 999 days to go before the opening of the 29th Games, and the impact that a 16-day sporting event is having on the city of Beijing is astounding.

For many here, it's a coming-of-age party - the ultimate international acknowledgement after decades of isolation. It's a badge of honour, coming at a time when the country is enjoying an unprecedented economic boom and is asserting itself on the world stage. And it's a matter of national pride that these games be a success.

Since July 2001, when Beijing was awarded the games, the city decided it was makeover time. The capital has been invaded by cranes. Pneumatic drills pound out the new national anthem, as sporting venues, hotels, skyscrapers, shopping centres and apartment blocks sprout up. City homes have been demolished and hundreds of thousands of residents dispatched to the suburbs. New motorways loop the city and a network of subway lines are being burrowed beneath. The burgeoning flow of tourists are bemused when they try to reconcile what they see and hear - the eight-lanes of traffic wedged on highways, the relentless urban sprawl, the continuous construction - with the quaint images of China they might have nurtured since childhood.

The venues for the games look slick and modern, and contrary to the Greeks' last-minute bungling it seems they will be ready in ample time. The International Olympic Committee even found itself in the unusual position of advising the hosts to slow down the pace of construction, such was the alacrity of the Beijing builders.

Financially, officials say things are rosy and the games will actually turn a US$16 million profit. But that, as always, depends on how you read the figures. The estimated US$2 billion that it will cost to run the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog) should indeed be covered, about half coming from the IOC's sale of TV rights, with the rest raised through sponsorship, ticket sales and licensing projects.