Support for the quake victims has been coming from all across China. My local elementary school is holding a fundraiser, and
my apartment complex has huge red and white banners proclaiming support for the quake victims, and asking for donations to help them.

Many of the torchbearers expressed deep concern for the victims of the quake.

Among them were Jiang Yiman, vice-president of the Red Cross Society of China.

The charity organization has so far collected 320 million yuan ($45.7 million) for disaster relief, he said.

The first medical team and supplies of tents, food and water have arrived in Sichuan, and a second team with more aid will arrive today, he said.

Liu [Hao, a torchbearer] said as a firefighter, he has participated in numerous rescue efforts, the most recent being the snowstorms at the start of the year.

“More than 350 of my colleagues in Jiangxi province are ready to go to the disaster-hit areas,” Liu said.

“As a firefighter, I am ready to go at any time.”

Via China Daily

One of my students who knows of my Olympic fandom printed these stamps for me. The Bird’s Nest is probably my favorite, although the name seals are lovely, too.

Thai authorities are offering huge cash prizes for Olympic medalists, but plan to pay it out slowly to prevent what we Americans might call the MC Hammer effect.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is offering its athletes big cash incentives for Olympic gold medals — but will pay out in installments to stop them squandering it.

Gold medalists will earn 10 million baht ($314,000), silver medal winners will take six million baht, while a bronze is worth four million baht — sizable sums in a country where the minimum wage is just 203 baht ($6) a day.

However, half of the money will be paid over a 20-year period to prevent Thai Olympians, many of whom are from poor backgrounds, from frittering it away.

“We don’t want them to spend it all at once, they might need this money when they get old,” Thai Olympic committee member Charoen Wattanasin told Reuters.

“We will give it to them every month. Most of them manage their finances but there have been a few bad examples in the past.”

Via Yahoo! News

After the Sichuan earthquake, organizers plan silent moments for the lives lost.

Attendance and torchbearers of torch relay in each of the next 98 legs across China will dedicate one minute of silence to the lives lost in the massive earthquake in southwest China, the Beijing Games organizers decided Tuesday night.

The local organizers in Jiangxi, where the cites of Ruijin, Jinggangshan and Nanchang are scheduled to carry on the sacred flame from Wednesday, decided Tuesday to cut all festive performances at the launching and closing ceremonies. Torchbearers may also wear black ribbons and charity boxes will be set up at the starting and finishing points.

Olympic venues across Beijing were not damaged by the quake, said builders at several venues, including the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube, the Workers’ Indoor Gymnasium and the Wukesong venue cluster. State Seismological Bureau recorded a 3.9 magnitude tremor in Tongzhou District in east Beijing Monday afternoon.

Via China Daily

Funny picture from an Olympic Games photoshopping contest.

Via Freaking News

Success! The mountain-climbing torch relay team has made it to the top of the world!

A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on Thursday, realizing “a dream of all Chinese people”, but Tibetan exiles criticized Beijing for politicizing the Games.

“Long live Tibet!” and “Long live Beijing!”, the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo.

The ambitious project to take the torch to the Himalayan peak was cast as the highlight of the relay ahead of the Games, which start in exactly three months’ time, and followed weeks of protests against Beijing’s rule in Tibet.

“We have realized a promise to the world and a dream of all the Chinese people,” base camp commander Li Zhixin told reporters after being mobbed by jubilant friends and colleagues.

Via Countdown to Beijing blog and Reuters.

I just saw these cute little guys for sale next to the grocery store, and the seller was nice enough to let me snap a photo.

The Beijing Olympics 2008 blog tipped me off to this awesome blog by Nick, Dave and Mark, some of the reporters covering the Olympic torch’s climb up Everest. They recently posted the pros and cons of hanging around base camp, waiting for news.

1. The view……lets face it, it does not get much better than this.

2. The internet facilities…….the only reason why I am able to send my pictures, and now blogs, so easily is due to the excellent set up at the press centre. Plus, it allows us to watch repeats on YOU-TUBE of British comedies.

3. The food…..for make-shift kitchen facilities, the food is excellent, especially the dumplings.

4. The friendly staff who are trying to help.

But then we decided, it would only be fair, in order to uphold our roles as impartial observers, we would do a list of negatives as well:

1. Lack of information…..What’s happening up that mountain, Please??

2. The Huts…….sooooooo cold at night.

3. Altitude…….even though we have been ok so far, you can still feel the weight of the altitude on your head.

4. No showers……..been a week, hmmmmmmm, say no more…….

5. Toilet facilities………don’t even ask……..

6. Fresh clothes………yep, run out……well it has been 11 days….

7. Melting snow dripping through the roof…..right onto Mark’s head in fact, funny from where we were sitting.

8. The uncertainty of not knowing anything about what is happening…….

The full post is here. Thanks to Mike at Beijing Olympics 2008 blog for introducing this blog!

I caught the adorable little panda waving a bat, wrestling Huan Huan , and shooting an arrow at Ni Ni but Imagethief caught little Jing Jing packing heat!

That Jing Jing is at it again!

Via Imagethief

Here’s a video that shows the first leg of the Beijing Olympic torch relay in China at Sanya (三亚), Hainan. Yangyang is the first Chinese torchbearer who commenced this significant event.