COUNTDOWN BEIJING
COUNTDOWN BEIJING (www.cnn.com/beijing) is CNN's dedicated week of coverage
showcasing the Chinese capital as a city preparing for one of the most important sporting events
in history, the 2008 summer Olympic Games. The games are also set to celebrate China
officially rejoining the global fraternity after decades of social and economic isolation. CNN's week
of extensive coverage introduces viewers to a city and its people in a period of hugely dynamic
transition.
From athletes to construction workers, business people to artists and environmentalists, CNN
takes the pulse of the city's population in the run up to the games that are set to define a global
view of contemporary China. Watch out for special reports, interviews and live coverage in
programming including CNN TODAY, WORLD NEWS ASIA and TALK ASIA.
CNN TODAY (August 6 - 10 at 0700)
Kristie Lu Stout reports live from locations around Beijing for CNN’s award-winning, morning
news program, CNN TODAY throughout the week. Special reports also air across CNN news and
business programming.
WORLD NEWS ASIA (August 6 - 10 at 1900)
Andrew Stevens reports live from Beijing for the Asia evening prime-time show, WORLD NEWS
ASIA throughout the week. Special reports also air in CNN news and business programming.
DAY 1: AN OLYMPIC OVERVIEW & A CHINA ATHLETE
Kristie Lu Stout introduces COUNTDOWN BEIJING and assesses how Olympic preparations
have put the spotlight on China like never before. Since the IOC's announcement six years ago,
Beijing has undergone huge changes in order to ready itself as the host city. Kristie looks at the
advanced design of the capital’s Olympic venues and what lies in store for the opening and
closing ceremonies.
Andrew Stevens then meets diver Guo Jingjing, one of China's elite gold medal favorites. He gets
the inside track on her high-pressure daily life by visiting her home, talking to her about her
training and asking her whether the weight of national expectation is a help or a hindrance.
DAY 2: GO GREEN & ON TIME
Beijing has promised a “Green Olympics”, but questions remain as to the environmental impact of
the games. CNN’s Beijing correspondent John Vause interviews Ma Jun, a man on a mission to
save the polluted and dying rivers of China. Ma takes the bold step of listing the key polluters on
his website, even if these enterprises are owned by the state.
Kristie Lu Stout looks at the remarkable state of readiness of the Olympic venues – something
which even took the IOC’s chief inspector’s breath away.
DAY 3: A PERFECT DAY & PUTTING ON BEST BEHAVIOUR
John Vause visits the Beijing Weather Modification Bureau to find out how China plans for clear,
blue skies during the games, before looking at what the city has in store to clean up its
notoriously polluted air - including the creation of rain.
Beijing is working to put on its best welcome to an estimated 500,000 visitors. Kristie Lu Stout,
who once lived in Beijing as a student, returns to the city and puts on her best tourist hat to
mingle with the locals and see what the city is doing. Also under the spotlight is the "Spiritual
Civilization Bureau" set up to monitor the streets for line jumpers, litterbugs and public spitters.
DAY 4: CHANGING BEIJING & OLYMPIC FOOD
Hutongs, a symbol of Beijing's historic past, are being pushed aside to make room for the
Olympic juggernaut. Andrew Stevens visits the families who still call these Hutongs home.
Recent scandals over China’s tainted food may concern the thousands of tourists heading to the
city for the games. John Vause boldly samples the often exotic culinary delights of Beijing.
DAY 5: OLYMPIC WORKER & OLYMPIC POP QUIZ
John Vause meets a migrant worker building the Olympic projects and travels back with him to
his home village to see what his meagre salary provides for his family. John also explains why
the Birds Nest stadium costs a fraction of what it would cost in a more developed country.
Kristie Lu Stout takes to the streets of Beijing to gauge just how Olympic-savvy the locals are.
Beijingers are infamously opinionated and well-informed about geography, global politics, and
sports but she finds out what sort of Olympic trivia can stump them.
TALK ASIA
Talk Asia’s Anjali Rao also travels to Beijing to meet two key figures and Chinese household
names.
TALK ASIA: YANG LAN (August 4 at 0730 and 2300, August 5 at 2100)
Yang Lan is known as "China's Oprah Winfrey". Born in 1968 in Beijing, Yang holds a Master's
degree from Columbia University, is one of China's 50 most successful entrepreneurs and one of
the country’s wealthiest self-made women.
At the age of 21 whilst in her final year studying at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, Yang
Lan auditioned for and won the position of host for the ‘Zheng Da’ variety show on China Central
Television. Within a year, the show became a primetime Saturday celebrity quiz and talk show
and the most watched program in China, with a staggering audience of 220 million.
The program also sees Yang Lan share with Anjali her role as an Olympic Ambassador.
TALK ASIA: DENG YAPING (August 11 at 0730 and 2300, August 12 at 2100)
Anjali Rao interviews Chinese ‘female athlete of the century’ and four time Olympic Gold medal
winner Deng Yaping. When she retired at the age of just 24, Deng had won more titles than any
other player in the sport. She became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1997
and is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
On TALK ASIA, she also explains to Anjali her role in charge of the city's Olympic village.