Are you watching the Summer Games now? Did you watch the grand opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games? It’s simply extraordinary; even though I watched the ceremony on TV, I’d say it’s AMAZING!

Thankfully, there are huge collections of fabulous photos taken from the “Bird’s Nest” stadium last night, some are so fascinating that I wanted to post them here to share with everyone!

The “Historical Footprints” fireworks were awesome! We didn’t expect anything like this. The “Footprints” started the first scene over Yongdingmen, southernmost of Beijing city’s central axis, creating a 300 metres long footprint. (In my previous post, I mentioned about the north-south Imperial Axis.)

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Welcome to Travelerfolio! This special post is set to be published on 08.08.08 at 08:08 pm! Did you notice something? 08:08 pm is also 20:08, which is the year 2008 ! Be the first to comment now! All are welcome to post as many comments as you like!

When you are reading this post, you are either still watching or just finished watching the much anticipated grand opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games which also starts on the same day at the same time this post is published, that is at an auspicious time at 08:08pm!

Some interesting facts/stories about Beijing Olympic Games:

Beijing 2008, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad

“One World, One Dream ~ 同一个世界同一个梦想”

This Olympic Emblem known as the “Dancing Beijing“, is a Chinese Seal with the character “京” (pronounced as “Jing“) engraved for the Olympic Movement by China, a country that the largest population in the world, with 1.3 billion people from 56 ethnic groups. “京” | “Jing” is the latter of the great ancient capital of China - “北京” | “Beijing“. You will notice that the “Dancing Beijing” has open arms, a gesture to welcome the world to join the Olympics.

The “Bird’s Nest” is China’s new National Stadium that will serve as the main venue of the Beijing Olympic Games and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games will be held in it too. It is considered as the most unusual and beautiful stadium in Olympic history.

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Hi Friends! This is one of the 3 posts that is submitted for the nomination of Best Photo Blog category by OMY Singapore Blog Awards. I must hereby THANK the panel of judges from OMY’s editorial team for selecting TravelerFolio.com as one of the top ten finalists in the Photo Blog category.

Please leave your comment in this post if you like it.

Jiuzhaigou is best known for its splendid multi-level waterfalls and the brilliantly coloured lakes. When the guide told us the Tibetans affectionately call the Jiuzhaigou lakes as “Hai zi”, we thought it was “孩子” or “children”. The correct one is “海子”, which means “sons of sea”.

Nuorilang waterfall / 諾日朗瀑布 - reportedly the widest highland waterfall in China. Glaciers are still seen at the waterfall in March.

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Travel News Update: 10 July 2008.

Kieran Fitzgerald, Sustainable Tourism and Marketing Adviser from Jiuzhaigou National Park, Sichuan, China, has the following update:

Hi Eunice,

Just a quick update on Jiuzhaigou:

Jiuzhaigou is open to tourists and never actually closed after the earthquake since there was no damage in the area. Flights are open to all independent tourists but I think travel agents still aren’t officially allowed to send groups.

There are buses running from Chadianzi (Chengdu) to Jiuzhaigou every day at 8am arriving at around 6pm. Buses from Xinanmen (Chengdu) are also running 3 times a week.

There are buses running in the park and it is possible to get off and walk if you like. Only some paths are closed now. But it is possible to walk along the roads although this isn’t strictly allowed. If you tell the bus drivers that you want to walk they won’t make you get on the buses.

There are wild flowers in bloom and the sun is shining 9 out of every 10 days. The park is green and the water level is high which means the waterfalls are spectacular. To see Jiuzhaigou with so few tourists in July is something that is not likely to ever happen again!! The chance of seeing wildlife is a lot higher as a result.

Regards,

Kieran Fitzgerald
Sustainable Tourism and Marketing Adviser
Jiuzhaigou National Park, Sichuan, China
kieranjiuzhai@gmail.com

Hey folks! Kieran from Jiuzhaigou has emailed me the earthquake report dated on 15 May 2008 on Jiuzhaigou National Park. Below is his email:

I’d like to provide you information on Jiuzhaigou National Park in Sichuan for your readers. We probably had over 10,000 tourists in the park on Sunday and Monday and there were no injuries reported. Here is a report on the situation…

Jiuzhaigou National Park Earthquake Report

Jiuzhaigou National Park has not been significantly damaged physically. Many staff members have still not been able to contact family members and they are our priority at the moment.

The roads from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou are blocked due to the earthquake of 12th May 2008 and are expected to remain that way for some time. The best way to get to Jiuzhaigou is to fly although the government has warned against any unnecessary travel to the whole region for the moment. Flight schedules have been affected by the disaster however.

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Photos taken at the exhibit at World Book Fair (May-Jun 2008) at Suntec Singapore. Free admission.

“This little girl was still holding on to her pen when her body was retrieved from under the rubble.”

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Earthquake News Update on 2008-05-27 16:06:13

China earthquake death toll rises to 67,183… two fresh aftershocks struck earthquake-hit areas in southwest China on Tuesday afternoon. A 5.4-magnitude aftershock hit Qingchuan County in Sichuan Province at about 4:03 p.m. and another 5.7-magnitude aftershock hit neighboring Ningqiang County in Shaanxi Province, according to the China National Seismological Network.

“Judging from previous earthquakes of a similar magnitude, this time the aftershocks may last for two or three months, and it’s not relatively long,” said He Yongnian, former deputy director of China Seismological Bureau (CSB) and a seismologist, in an online interview on xinhuanet.com. ~Xinhua.

The massive earthquake that hit Sichuan is a tragedy. The 8-magnitude quake is said to be the country’s strongest earthquake in more than half a century.. My heartfelt sympathy and condolences to those affected families… Scenic photos taken before Sichuan earthquake while touring Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu and other part of Sichuan… (See scenic photos)

Videos of Sichuan earthquake. I will update with any latest videos or news.

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(photo from Xinhua news)

A well-written condolence can help ease the sorrow for a grieving person coping with the death of a loved one. Also, please don’t forget to make donations to the charity organisations supporting the victims of Sichuan Earthquake.

Please leave your condolences in the box by clicking on “comments” right below.

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