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SCMP Reporter

How we got here - the journey to this national coming-out party featured  false starts, several setbacks and much jumping through rings before  Beijing came to grips with how to play the Olympic game
1896
China is not represented at the first modern Games - even though they are invited to send a team - because the Qing dynasty government did not appreciate what the Games were and failed to respond to the invitation.
1922
Wang Zhengyan, chancellor of China University and sponsor of the Far Eastern Championship Games, is selected to be the first Chinese IOC member.
1924
Paris Games
China sends three athletes to take part in non-competition tennis events. Four years later in Amsterdam, China sends an observer but no athletes.
1932
Los Angeles Games
China selects two athletes, Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei. Liu is eliminated in the heats of both the 100m and 200m, clocking 11.1 seconds and 22.1 respectively. He blames his poor performance on being exhausted from the 25-day sea journey from Shanghai. Liu, a native of Dalian, is ordered to attend the Games as a representative of the Japanese-occupied puppet state Manchukuo. Liu refuses - even rejecting the offer in an advert in a newspaper - and goes instead with funding from a Kuomintang general who is impressed by Liu's patriotism. He raises funds from the Chinese community in LA to pay for his return trip. Back in China, he has to evade capture by the Japanese. Meanwhile, Yu never makes it out of China - he is prevented from leaving by the Japanese. Liu may have flopped in LA but his place in history is guaranteed just for being there. And on home soil he is unmatched. He sets a national 100m record of 10.7 seconds in 1933, a mark that stands for 25 years. But after competing in Berlin in 1936 he finds regular work hard to come by.  Things improve after the Communist Revolution and he becomes a teacher at a university. Stories about Liu's Olympic pioneering were not widely known on the mainland until 2001, when Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Games. His life story was made into a film, The One, which was released in 2008. One of his sons, Liu Hongliang, is a leading environmentalist.
1936
Berlin Games
China has 54 athletes competing in seven sports - athletics, basketball, boxing, cycling, soccer, swimming and weightlifting. Hong Kong makes an unlikely but significant contribution by providing the lion's share of the soccer squad. Fourteen of the 22-man squad come from Tai Hang, then known as a laundry and fishing village, but now located behind the Central Library after decades of reclamation. The reason the young Chinese republic opts for so many players who are subjects of a British crown colony is because they need players capable of facing up to the tactics and teamwork of foreign opponents. The South China Athletic Club, who regularly play British army and navy teams, have the experience of taking on European players. All their best players hail from Tai Hang, including captain Lee Wai-tong, widely considered the best Asian player at that time. Lee was selected as Fifa vice-president in 1956 after his retirement from the soccer field. There is also Tam Kong-pak, nicknamed 'Iron Head' for his heading ability, father of entertainment legend Alan Tam Wing-lun. Before setting off to Germany, the South China players tour Asia, gathering other players and raising cash. They play 27 matches in 62 days in Malaya, Siam, Burma and Singapore. After stops in Bangkok and Venice, the team arrives in Berlin. In their lone match, they lose 2-0 to Great Britain, but give a good account of themselves, earning praise for their heading ability. The Daily Telegraph writes: 'Reports are unanimous that the Chinese headed brilliantly, but unfortunately refused to shoot often enough.'
1939
Kong Xiangxi is elected as the second IOC member for China.
1947
Pro-Communist Dong Shouyi is elected as China's third IOC member.
1948
London Games
Twenty-six athletes compete in five sports.
1949
The People's Republic of China is founded.
1951
Chinese Olympic Committee officials flee to Taiwan as the IOC recognises it as an official committee; the IOC recognises the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.
1952
Helsinki Games
China and Taiwan both signal their intent to send athletes to Helsinki. The IOC agrees to allow athletes from China, despite a rule allowing only one national Olympic committee per country; Taiwan withdraws in protest. China sends a 40-member delegation. Only the swimmers can compete because there are just two days left to reach Helsinki - too late for most sports, but swimming is held in the latter stages of the Games. The Chinese soccer  and basketball teams play friendly matches with their Finnish hosts after a late arrival.
1954
The IOC officially recognises the national Olympic committee from China as the 'Olympic Committee of the Chinese Republic', but still maintains recognition of the Olympic committee in Taiwan.
1956
Melbourne Games
China's IOC member Dong asks that the Taiwan-based Olympic committee no longer be recognised; it is rejected by IOC president Avery Brundage. China withdraws from the Games in protest.
1958
China withdraws from the Olympic movement and all international sporting federations; Dong resigns from the IOC with an abusive letter calling Brundage 'a faithful menial of US imperialists'.
1959
Under pressure from communist bloc members, the IOC agrees that the Taiwan committee cannot continue to operate under the name 'Chinese Olympic Committee'.
1960
Rome Games
Taiwan told it must compete under the name Taiwan (Formosa). They subsequently carry the name board 'Formosa' along with a placard reading 'under protest''. Yang Chuan-kwang of Taiwan - known as the Iron Man of Asia - becomes the first ethnic Chinese Olympic medal winner with decathlon silver, losing out on the gold medal to UCLA teammate Rafer Johnson, of the US. Yang actually beats Johnson in the seven track events, but the losing margin to Johnson in the three field events is big enough to cost him the title.
1964
Tokyo Games
1968
Mexico Games
1970
The IOC agrees to accept China back into the Olympic fold, but insists that Taiwan will not be excluded.
1971
In the depths of the Cold War, US table tennis players become the first American athletes to set foot in Beijing since the communist takeover. Table tennis is 17 years away from becoming an Olympic sport and China 13 years off competing again at a Games. This act of 'ping-pong diplomacy' is part of a campaign that paves the way for those developments.
1972
Munich Games
1976
Montreal Games
Host Canada, which adopted a one-China policy in 1970, says it won't allow Taiwanese to compete as 'China'; nor can they use a China flag or anthem. The Taiwan team goes home the day before the Games.
1977
IOC president Lord Killanin visits China in a bid to solve the China-Taiwan issue before the Moscow Games.
1978
IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch, the future president, visits Beijing; says the IOC should recognise China.
1979
IOC members vote in favour of readmitting the Chinese Olympic Committee with PRC flag and anthem; The Taiwan Olympic committee becomes known as Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee.
1980
Moscow Games
China competes in winter Olympics in Lake Placid, but boycotts summer Games in Moscow.
1984
Los Angeles Games: see inset, above
1988
Seoul Olympics
China wins five gold medals and finishes 11th overall.
1989
Chinese Olympic Committee announces plans to bid for the 2000 Games.
1992
Barcelona Olympics
China wins 16 golds and finishes fourth overall. Chen Yueling becomes the nation's first athletics gold medallist by winning the women's 10,000-metre walk. A statue is erected in her honour in her hometown in Liaoning. But she subsequently emigrates to California and then competes for the US in the 2000 Games.
1993
Sydney beats Beijing for the right to host the 2000 Games. Sydney wins by just two votes, and the process is embroiled in controversy after Australian bid chief John Coates reveals that US$35,000 had been paid to two African members of the IOC. Coates insists the money is for the National Olympic Committees of Kenya and Uganda, not the individual members, but he admits he had adopted the tactic to secure votes as Sydney's bid was 'slipping away'. China expresses its disappointment that 'non-sports factors became involved'.
1996
Atlanta Games
China wins 16 gold medals and again finishes fourth overall. Wang Junxia's gold in the women's 5,000 metres makes her the nation's first champion in an Olympic track event.
1999
Beijing announces plans to bid for the 2008 Games.
2000
Sydney Olympics
China wins 28 gold and improves to third overall.
2001
Beijing wins right to host the 2008 Games.  With IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch firmly behind the Beijing bid, it turns into a rout. Just two rounds of bidding are required, with Beijing taking 56 votes to Toronto's 22. Celebrations around China go long into the night.
2002
Beijing organisers seek design proposals for the Olympic centrepiece, the National Stadium. Eventually they decide on the distinctive structure soon to be known as the Bird's Nest. Ground is broken on Christmas Eve in 2003, but is halted in August 2004 during a round of cost-cutting that sees plans for a sliding roof abandoned and the amount of steel reduced.
August 2004
Athens Games
China wins 32 gold medals and finishes second overall. Liu Xiang becomes the nation's first male track gold medallist, winning the 110m hurdles and equalling the world record in the process.
November 2004
The IOC makes a crucial inspection of Beijing's preparations. The report is highly unusual for a host city: construction is too fast and should be slowed down.
June 2005
Beijing announces the official slogan of the Games: 'One World, One Dream' in a Zhang Yimou-directed ceremony at the Temple of Heaven.
July 2005
The IOC agrees to transfer the equestrian events to Hong Kong after Beijing cannot guarantee an equine disease-free zone.
November 2005
With 1,000 days to go, organisers unveil the official mascots of the games - Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying and Ni Ni (Beijing welcomes you). They are initially called the 'Five Friendlies' in English, but this is quietly changed to the Romanised version of the Chinese name, Fuwa, because, according to organisers, 'it reads more smoothly'.
May 2006
Organisers earn a gushing report from the IOC. Inspection chief Hein Verbruggen describes venues such as the Bird's Nest and the National Aquatic Centre, known as the Water Cube, as 'stunning'. He also expresses confidence that solutions will be found to the traffic and pollution problems.
July 2006
Liu Xiang sets a world record in the 110m hurdles, at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, with a time of 12.88 seconds.
August 2007
Beijing organisers host a lavish ceremony in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the one-year countdown, attended by senior government and IOC officials. But behind the scenes there's concern over a lack of progress with the pollution problem. IOC chief Jacques Rogge's warning is stern: Clean up, or events will be delayed. At the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Liu Xiang wins gold in the 110m hurdles in 12.95 seconds to become world champion for the first time.
January 2008
A British newspaper reports that 10 workers have died during construction of the Bird's Nest. A Bocog spokesman initially denies the claims, saying the report is 'untrue' and that construction is 'going well and according to plan'. But a week later Beijing's Work Safety Bureau says that two workers had died.
January 29, 2008
The first centrepiece arena, the Water Cube, is unveiled. With 80 per cent of funding from overseas-based Chinese, the aquatics venue is made of a series of eye-catching bubbles and will be refitted for leisure use after the Games.
March 2008
The Olympic flame is lit in ancient Olympia. In a sign of what is to come, following a crackdown on riots in Tibet, the ceremony is interrupted by three men protesting  China's human rights record. The torch endures a tumultuous international leg of the relay - with huge demonstrations in London, Paris and San Francisco in particular - before arriving in Hong Kong on May 1 to begin the China leg.
April 19, 2008
The first competition - a race walk - is held in the Bird's Nest. The full test event takes place a month later, highlighted by Liu Xiang's victory in the hurdles.
July 2008
The IOC gives Beijing the thumbs up on its final inspection tour, saying 'the quality of preparation, the readiness of the venues and the attention to operational detail for these Games set a gold standard for the future'.
July 2008
Liu Hongtu, one of the sons of China's first Olympian, Liu Changchun, opens a leg of the Beijing Games torch relay in Shenyang. 'I am passing on my father's Olympic dream today,' Liu  says.
August 8, 2008
Let the Games begin.
The Athens gold medal tally China will be aiming to eclipse at home: 32



EVOLUTION