CHINA:PRESIDENT HU Jintao took to the underground yesterday to inaugurate Beijing's spanking new subway lines for the Olympics and said the games had entered the "final sprint" between now and the start of the event on August 8th.
Weeks of smoggy skies in the capital are a reminder of how Beijing, with a population of 17 million, has become one of the most congested cities in the world, and pollution is a thorny issue ahead of the Olympics.
The sky may be yellow-tinged and smoky, but the city has been transformed by the Olympic building plan. Workers are putting the final touches on the new subway stations and Olympic venues around the city.
"Preparations for the Beijing Olympic Games have entered the stage of the final sprint. A good transportation environment is an important guarantee for a successful Olympics," Mr Hu told local media.
The city has introduced a series of measures to make sure Beijing can live up to its promises to have clear skies for the Olympics, which run from August 8th to 24th and the Paralympics from September 6th to 17th.
Odd-even number plate rules are being introduced next month, which authorities hope will take 45 per cent of the city's 3.29 million cars off the road and reduce emissions from vehicles by 63 per cent.
The public transport network, boosted by three new subway lines, is expected to take the strain, with longer hours and more services allowing more than four million extra passengers to use the system every day.
The Olympic preparations are dominating the domestic media, although some less scrupulous entrepreneurs are also making their preparations.
Dodgy landlords are increasing rents ahead of the Olympics, some by eight-fold.
Top-end hotels near the Olympic stadium are generally full at this point, although many are saying some hoteliers have overestimated demand and made expensive investments in vain.
Landlords are doing the same and are not willing to have long-term tenants, with data showing 71.5 per cent of landlords would readily accept a contract that ends by June.