The major complaints from foreign athletes and coaches about Beijing may come as a surprise.

The issues were not the usual suspects, such as traffic congestion, smog or spitting. The big-name sportsmen and women were most unhappy that late-night clubs and bars were few and far between, and many taxi drivers didn't speak English.

The complaints were revealed at a recent public forum and were detailed by an official, who was involved in staging major international sports competitions, as warm-up exercises and tests for the Olympics.

Getting from A to B is a simple matter and shouldn't be a problem in 2008 when thousands of English-speaking volunteers will be strategically deployed at various Olympic venues and locations across the city to serve the visitors.

With their help, cabbies could easily take the clubbers to several bar districts including Houhai, Sanlitun and Xingbalu or Lady Street where many of the city's bars are concentrated.

I hope tourist officials do not read too much into such complaints and over-stretch themselves when making plans for Beijing's bar scene.

For example, Houhai, a beautiful lake area that is arguably the most popular bar cluster in the city. It used to be known for lapping waters, overhanging willows in soft breezes, and residents in thousands of courtyard houses (siheyuan) tucked away in a maze of winding hutongs.

Official figures show that since 2000, more than 100 bars have cropped up, attracting beer-soaked crowds who hang out for late-night fun.

This has turned the traditional Chinese neighborhood into a busy and packed place.

Local tourist planners have recently floated an idea of building a "People's Olympics Model Area" in Houhai, as a new Olympic marketing communication strategy to boost local tourism.

In a research report posted on the municipal government website, they propose Houhai with many cultural relics, alleyways, aged residents and a fantastically beautiful lake, should be an ideal site for conducting Olympic education of ethics and civility for people from everywhere.

However, for most bar patrons, going to night classes on courtesies and lofty ideals of humanity might not be their idea of having fun.

The initiative might be too idealistic to implement.

In the same report, these experts also want to introduce an alternative concept of a "Harmonious Tourist Spot" to Houhai. This concept seeks to address worsening living conditions for local residents and environmental pollution, as well as encouraging greater participation by the community to promote local tourism.

A "harmonious" neighborhood might be a better vision for the area as it represents a good Chinese life that should be about harmony between one and nature, one and others, and one with oneself.

Caring for the people and their surroundings makes a lot of Olympic sense, whether the place is called an Olympic model area or not.