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Merry Christmas

Beijing Visitor wishes all our readers a very Merry Christmas.

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Harbin Santa Claus

The world’s biggest ice Santa has been built for the 2008 Harbin Ice Festival in Heilongjiang Province in China.

The 160m Father Christmas, created by Chinese sculptor Tang Guangjun, is a centerpiece of this year’s Harbin Ice Festival.

Over 800,000 tourists from around China and overseas will visit the festival, which runs from mid-December to early February.

China now has a number of ice festivals to rival the internationally acclaimed Sapporo Snow Festival in nearby Japan.

There are ice and snow festivals in Shenyang in Liaoning Province and Harbin in Heilongjiang Province at this time of the year. In Harbin the amazing ice sculptures are illuminated at night and firework displays are part of the attraction.

images © Daniel Allen

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Japan ready to bid for both World Cup, Olympics

Japan’s football chief has vowed to bid for the World Cup finals in 2018 or 2022, despite Tokyo’s candidacy to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, press reports said Monday.
“We want to challenge it,” Football Association president Motoaki Inukai was quoted as saying on FIFA’s weekend decision to hold simultaneous bidding for the 2018 and [...]

Usain Bolt shines on the track in 2008

Usain Bolt let those long legs loose at the Bird’s Nest, and he left Beijing with three Olympic gold medals, three world records and hundreds of millions of new fans around the world.
Virtually unknown at the start of the year, the Jamaican sprinter was the star of the track in 2008, first setting a world [...]

London Mayor Approaches Sainsbury’s CEO Over Olympics, FT Says

London Mayor Boris Johnson has approached J Sainsbury Plc Chief Executive Officer Justin King about the possibility of King becoming Johnson’s main adviser on the London 2012 Olympics, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the company.
King has not yet decided whether to accept the approach, the newspaper said, citing the people. The [...]

Meet Western Michigan Cheerleader Kylee Ann Crawford

Name: Kylee Ann CrawfordHometown: Jackson, Mich.School: Western Michigan UniversityYear: JuniorMajor: Secondary education, family and consumer science She says her best physical features are her lips! Click Here for more images of Kylee Ann Crawford

Wrestler Maryse Ouellet

Click Here for more images of Maryse Ouellet

Big TV

The Scotsman reports that there is a row going on in Edinburgh over the placing of a £500K giant TV screen, ostensibly to be used to show the 2012 Olympics.Not surprisingly people are not that keen to have such a monstrosity erected in view of their b…

IOC Honour Sailing With Best Sports Coverage Award At Olympic Golden Rings Awards

Sailing scored a major coup as its television coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games was recognized as ‘The Best Sports Coverage by the Host Broadcaster’ at the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) “Olympic Golden Rings” ceremony, held last night (16 December) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The IOC’s Olympic Golden Rings ceremony recognises the contribution made by the [...]

Security

The former head of London Olympic security and former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Tarique Ghaffur, has put the cat amongst the pigeons by saying that time is running out to ensure that London 2012 is effectively policed and that …