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Heat builds up as Wen takes a tour

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-04 07:26

"Excellent" air quality has been recorded on all the three days of this month. And overall, Beijing has had 152 "blue skies" or days with fairly good air quality.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge speaks during a news conference in Beijing August 2, 2008. [Agencies]

Fan attributed the improvement in air quality to the emission control measures. "If environmental departments foresee serious air pollution during the Olympics, Beijing and neighboring areas will close more factories temporarily and pull more cars off the roads," he said.

Government vehicles have been told to stay off the roads one day a week in the latest clean air initiative.

On the Games organizational front, Jacques Rogge credited Beijing for its work and providing the best possible facilities for athletes and officials. "It's a totally different ball game (from the Athens Games)," he said on Saturday, reminding journalists that media headlines a week before the 2004 Olympics were on the delay in the completion of venues and the lack of organization.

"Today we have absolutely no concerns for the organization," he told journalists at the Main Press Center as fireworks of the Games' opening ceremony rehearsals lighted up the sky around the National Stadium.

"I am sure that on the 9th of August, the day after the Opening Ceremony, the magic of the Games and the flawless organization will take over," the IOC president said, addressing his first conference in Beijing in the run-up to the Games.

He talked on many subjects, from media freedom, doping, the lifting of the ban on Iraqi athletes, and China's rise in sports and athlete's freedom of expression.

Praising the Olympic Village, he said: "I have had the privilege of staying in Olympic villages since the 1968 Mexico Games, and I have never seen a village like this. It is outstanding."

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