As an end to the Athens Olympics looms, Chinese leaders have broken into a brisk sprint with a phrasebook aimed at helping visitors to the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Finding one's way in Chinese around the city during the Games should be no problem with the stylish new phrase book.
Kicking off with a simple ni hao to help the visitor say howdy to the locals, the primer soon ups the stakes and before long even the mandarin novice is spouting such predictable tourist quips as "the sports facilities are very good, everything is exceptionally well organised and the service is great" or "these Olympic mascots look very nice".
The phrase book, Basic Chinese 100 for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, compiled by China's Communist Party government with the Beijing Games Organising Committee, follow the fortunes of Mike, an American, as he makes his way through Beijing, ordering a pizza, getting the bus, buying a suit and... congratulating the Games' organisers.
"The government has done a lot of work these past few years. The sky is bluer, the water is clearer and Beijing is becoming more and more beautiful," says Mike.
"Both the stadiums and the gymnasium facilities are very good, and everything was extremely well organised," he says.
Anyone looking for some Peking Duck chased down by a glass of Chinese poteen - the fiery liquor known as Maotai - need look no further than the key phrase on chapter 18, which also has the key phrase: "Let's drink to the success of the Olympic Games!"