Chen Gang was bold and boundless on his last benmingnian - every 12th year after birth - though Chinese custom says it is prudent to be "careful and cautious".

The maverick with a PhD from Peking University is now triumphantly steering a Beijing district which is home to 3 million residents - one-fifth of the city's total - and nearly half of the 2008 Olympic Games venues.

On the night of July 13 in 2001, or his third benmingnian, Chen grabbed his primary-school-student son and walked to Tian'anmen Square.

"My son said he had to sit an exam the next morning; I told him: 'You'll forget the test real fast, but will never forget tonight'."

As a result, the Chens were among the first group to hit the heart of the Chinese capital, spending the night that later became a national carnival celebrating Beijing's winning bid to host the 2008 Games.

On that night, Chen did not expect that his benmingnian, traditionally believed to be "precarious", had actually ushered him into a prosperous, and sometimes problematic, future.

Barely a blip on the political radar then, Chen was promoted as chief of Chaoyang district in less than two years, only to find himself in the forefront of massive preparations as the country readies to play host to the Games for the first time in history.

The preparations have set off a rollicking citywide construction binge, especially in Chaoyang, the largest district that covers 470 sq km in eastern Beijing.

The district, which housed competition venues for the 1990 Asian Games, was entrusted with the mission of building the most Olympic sites, including the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, and the National Aquatic Center, dubbed Water Cube.

"The passion that was ignited that night is still burning in me," the 42-year-old told China Daily recently. "It helps beat the stress and strains you undoubtedly face for being so involved."

Chen had his first taste of stress soon after he took office. He said he was scathed by a lawmaker at the annual municipal legislative meeting in early 2003 because of a mountain of trash in Chaoyang that residents complained had fouled up their lives and environs.

"It was the first time in my life that I was scolded severely by a lady," Chen said. "Zou Xiaomei (a deputy to the Beijing People's Congress) was emotional and used sharp words; she was speaking for the residents."

Residents at Gaoantun of Chaoyang were so fed up with the acrid air from the huge landfill within walking distance that they resorted to every possible means for a change; and their representative Zou took up their case.

On average, up to 2,000 tons of garbage was dumped into the Gaoantun garbage facility each day, but landfill gas was discharged into the air without any treatment, which gave off a stink.

Chen has been to the landfill at least 20 times since then, applying his expertise from his PhD program in inorganic chemistry, and asking specialists to employ technology ranging from landfill gas collection to purifying garbage liquids. He also went to Seoul and Guangzhou for help.

"The lawmaker who censured me told me later that she was satisfied with the result," Chen said. "This was a bitter process It ended up with me at the top of the line among local officials with the best knowledge about waste treatment."

The same bitter-sweet feeling was repeated when hundreds of people were relocated from Olympic construction sites, Chen said.

"On most occasions, they benefited from the relocation as their living conditions and environment have improved greatly."

With promises such as larger housing and helping their children enroll at new schools, at least 2,700 families gave way for the building of the Olympic Forest Park; and none of them lodged a complaint with the government, Chen said.

Last year, the district government funded the building of 2.7 million sq m of affordable housing for low-income families, he said.

For Chen, not all problems are as big as houses; even smaller ones such as sand loomed large.

To build the volleyball court in Chaoyang Park, where the Olympic beach volleyball matches will be held, the district ignored sand in and around Beijing. It shipped 17,000 tons of select sand from Hainan island to meet the specifications of the International Volleyball Federation.

The federation officials gave their thumbs-up to the court and said top-grade competitions could be held in Chaoyang each year after the Games, which is precisely what the district has been aiming for, Chen said.

"Even after the Games, I see no sign of letting up in Chaoyang's economy, because the overall development trend is on the rise in the district, as well as elsewhere in Beijing, and throughout the country."

Thanks to the Games, Chaoyang has developed at least five years faster economically than it would have without the event; and a decade faster in terms of infrastructure construction.

The district has switched from its reliance on traditional manufacturing to tertiary industries, particularly finance, with economic strength ranking the first among all Beijing districts, and its central business district (CBD) becoming a glamorous attraction for regional and global headquarters of the world's top 500 corporations, he said.