Wang Zhitong is only 12 years old but thanks to the Beijing 2008 Olympic education program, she already has an impressive knowledge of the history and spirit of the Games.

This week, to mark 800 days until the opening of the Beijing Games, Wang and her fellow pupils at Jinsong No.4 primary school gathered in their playground to show off the fruits of the program to an audience of parents and officials.

Some 1,000 children, dressed in the colors of the five Beijing Games mascots, sang, ran and chanted with huge enthusiasm under a red banner declaring: "For the Olympic spirit, to be the best of me".

"Which is the only country in Oceania which has hosted the Olympics?" bellowed one of the pupils.

"Australia!" came the chorused reply from the massed ranks of children sat cross-legged in the spring sunshine.

Organizers of the 2008 Games, concerned at ignorance of the Olympics in a country which returned to the movement only 22 years ago, have rolled out the program to 530,000 schools across the country over the last year or so.

As well as teaching the history of the Olympics, the campaign reflects all the major themes of the Beijing Games, including that of the "Green Olympics".

"There are two points for our students to learn in this program," said Li Xuemei, who teaches Class 1 Grade 3 at the school. "First is the sportsmanship of the athletes, such as going-ahead, fighting and striving until the last second.

"The other one is how they can contribute to the 2008 Olympics. They can help protect the environment, save water and electricity, try to help in garbage recycling and be open and friendly to foreign guests."

Former badminton world champion Dong Jiong, a silver medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, thought anything which encouraged children to get involved in exercise had to be good.

"By any means, it's good for kids to know the Olympics and join in sports," he told Reuters while watching the display in the Chaoyang district where he grew up.

"Besides the potential professionals, ordinary children and their parents may also enjoy good health and the fun that goes with sports."

Also reflected in the campaign is one of the Beijing authorities' major concerns, that the manners of their citizens will offend the some three million visitors expected in the City in 2008.

After a colorful but slightly incongruous parade of flag-waving majorettes, a skate-past of students on roller-blades and a song from a harmonica band, a young boy took center-stage with a "Manners Rap".

"Don't spit, don't litter, say please," were among the admonitions in his unlikely take on hip hop.

OTHER CULTURES

China views the 2008 Games as its coming-out party to the world and the program also aims to foster an "international vision" in the students by educating them about foreign countries and through lessons in English.

Wang, who came top in her class's Olympic quiz, told Reuters after the pageant that she had particularly enjoyed learning about other cultures.

"We learned lots about the international manners," she said. "I think the foreigners have good sense of humour. So I tried to read books in English to improve mine."

China's pride in its own athletes success -- and in gold medals to the exclusion of baser metals -- was evident, however, when pupils recounted the country's tally at successive Games from their first in 1984 to the 32 in Athens a decade later.

"My favorite Chinese athlete is Xu Haifeng, because he made the great breakthrough of ending the China's zero count of gold medals in Los Angeles Olympics 1984. He's a hero," said Wang, who was born 10 years after Xu became an Olympic champion in the 50m pistol shooting.

Much of the display reflected the rote learning that characterizes Chinese education but once Wang had dispensed with her prepared script, she showed a good understanding of the spirit of the modern Games as espoused by its founder Pierre de Coubertin.

"Gold medals are not important," she said. "Compared with participation and friendship, I don't care about the results. I hope all the other countries can win many golds too."
 
(Reuters via China Daily June 5, 2006)