A government-sponsored online voting campaign to round up prayers and blessings for the Beijing Games met with an overwhelming response from enthusiastic fans at the end of last year.
According to the results of the poll, their top 10 wishes have included seeing Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang defend his 110m hurdles gold first-hand, serving as an Olympic torchbearer, watching the Games' Opening Ceremony with family and friends, posing for pictures in front of new Olympic venues and exchanging Olympic pins with foreign visitors.
The blessings came thick and fast and had gone beyond the few dozen choices pre
sented by organizers for people to pick from, as Olympic fans expressed their myriad hopes for a successful 2008.
I have also been compiling a wish list for the year, which starts with my concern about the unusual weather condition that blights the capital each spring.
January - Dreams begin in spring
I pray that local weather forecasters got it wrong when they predicted at the start of the year that Beijing could see more dust-storm days next season; either this, or I hope the city deploys more airplanes, rockets and mobile anti-aircraft guns to induce rain and clear the sky of dirt.
February - A high-tech airport
The newly built Terminal 3 at Beijing's international airport will be ready for Olympic passengers, with the first phase of the project expected to start on a trial basis.
I hope travelers can have wireless access to surf the Internet and check email at the new terminal, in the true spirit of hosting a hi-tech Olympics. At present, China Mobile charges wireless users 2 yuan for 10 minutes' usage at the airport.
March - Nothing I can do
The last time we heard about Taiwan's involvement in the first Olympic Games to be held in China was in September, when we learned that the torch relay for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games would not pass through Taipei after all.
"Nothing I can do but sigh," a senior mainland official said about the scuttled plan.
I'll keep my fingers crossed to see if Taiwan's new management can be more accommodating in terms of the future Olympic-related business.
April - The hills are alive...
The Olympic theme song will be launched. I hope the music and lyrics will be easy to learn and memorize, as I'm not really a KTV kind of person.
May - Greenwards and upwards
After traveling an unprecedented 137,000 km around the world, the Olympic flame will finally reach the peak of Mount Qomolangma, which will undoubtedly become a major media event that focuses the world's attention.
Organizers cannot take any chances when it comes to ensuring the ascent up the mountain is done with the utmost respect for the natural surroundings.
June - More tickets, please
The box office will start distributing much-coveted Olympic tickets. At this point, I have just secured two tickets for a boxing bout from the first round of the ticket lottery.
I pray I will have better luck in the second round of ticket sales, which has already happened and which also went to a lottery, or when open ticket sales begin in April. They will run until the opening of the Games.
I have fully abandoned my dream of watching the Opening Ceremony at the Bird's Nest (National Stadium), as getting a ticket for this would require an act of God.
July - Village people
I hope the opening of the Olympic Village symbolizes the successful completion of one of the largest city developments in the country. Residents may have good reason to expect a nicer place to live as their neighborhoods become greener and quieter.
August - No surprises
Zhang Yimou, director of the Beijing Games' Opening Ceremony, is probably praying for fine weather on the evening of August 8 and hoping that everything goes smoothly.
I pray there will be no surprises during the course of the Games, except for things like the choreography of the Opening Ceremony and its artistic performance, which should be a pleasant surprise for millions of spectators around the globe.
Email: guwen_2008@hotmail.com
