With only a few days remaining before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing has been overtaken by Olympic fever.

Beijing is the first city in China to host an Olympic Games, and there is an evident pride across the sprawling city in having been selected to stage the biggest sporting show on earth.

In Tiananmen Square, the most recognisable locale in Beijing, there is a definite Olympic presence. Artistic and colourful structures symbolising the Olympics dot the pathways around the historically significant setting, which is the world’s largest public square at 440,000 square metres. And across Beijing – whether you’re at the Forbidden City or the Summer Palace - there are banners, flower arrangements and Olympic merchandise outlets declaring “Beijing 2008!” wherever you look.

Much of the key merchandise features the five colourful and adorable Olympic mascots known as Fuwa, which represent the five Olympic rings. The Fuwa are also meant to symbolise a number of important aspects of life – young friends at play; the five elements of nature (the sea, the forest, the fire, the earth and the sky); and four of China’s popular animals (the panda, the fish, the Tibetan antelope, and the swallow). The five mascots are: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. And they appear on everything and anything, t-shirts, purses, backpacks, key rings, glasses, handkerchiefs, scarves and the always popular Olympic pins.

Each sport is assigned an official mascot, and for tennis it is Yingying, the Tibetan antelope, dressed in a melon-coloured outfit.

In all, there are 37 venues at this summer’s Olympic Games and six of them are located outside of Beijing, which enables the Olympics to truly become the games for all of China.

The main hustle and bustle of the Olympics is centred around the Olympic Green in the northern outskirts of the city just off Beijing’s Fifth Ring Road. The Olympic Green Tennis Centre is one of 12 venues located in the area including the National Aquatic Centre, affectionately known as the ‘Water Cube’; and the National Stadium a.k.a. ‘The Birds Nest’, where the athletics will be held.

Not many players have arrived yet at the tennis venue, but by no means is the venue tranquil. With only days to go before the events commence, scoreboards and sound systems are being tested, locker rooms fitted out, and the grounds appointed with banners, flags and floral displays. Indeed, every day for the past couple of months, the site has been teeming with staff and volunteers preparing and waiting for the Olympics to begin.

Not surprisingly, with Olympic gold, silver and bronze at stake, all of the best players in the world are ready to converge on Beijing and the Olympic Green Tennis Centre within the next week. Among the top athletes competing are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Nikolay Davydenko, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Venus and Serena Williams.

To the delight of the hometown fans, there are eight players from China who will compete for Olympic tennis glory. Among the most prominent is Zheng Jie, who recently reached the Wimbledon semifinals and is considered a medal contender.

Chinese athletes first participated in the Olympic tennis event at the 1992 Barcelona Games. At the 2004 Athens Games, Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won the gold medal in the women’s doubles, which was the first time that athletes from China had won gold at an Olympic tennis event.

Care is being taken to make sure that everything at these Olympic Games goes off without a hitch. Most venues have conducted test events, including tennis, and fireworks have recently been seen coming from the Bird’s Nest, as preparation for what is undoubtedly going to be an extravagant Opening Ceremony.

Also, everywhere in the Olympic Green area are a sea of staff and volunteers proudly wearing their official uniform of blue or red shirt, grey trousers and trainers. Hundreds of staff, contractors and media have their Olympic accreditation passes hanging from their necks as they join the bustling neighbourhood as the excitement builds.

To add an extra special cultural symbol of luck to the Beijing Games, let’s not forget that eight is a lucky number in China. So when the Opening Ceremony kicks off for the XXIX Olympiad, it will do so at 8pm on the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the new millennium – 8pm, Friday, 8 August, 2008.

And for 17 days in August - Beijing - the capital of China and the host of this year’s Olympic Games, will receive worldwide attention as it lives up to its motto – “One World, One Dream”.

(Credit: ITF)