Travel News

BEIJING (AP) -China’s capital Beijing is banning fireworks of all types during a more than three-month period around this summer’s Olympic Games.

The order extends an existing ban in the city center to the capital’s sprawling suburbs, where many of the Olympic events are being held, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

Dealers will be forced to suspend sales and store their stock in specially designated warehouses from July 1 to Oct. 8, Xinhua said.

The ban is the latest in a raft of security measures ordered to ensure the Aug. 8-24 games go off without a hitch. Some of those have drawn the ire of the IOC, foreign residents, sponsors and broadcast rights holders, including increasing scrutiny over visas and limits on live coverage in Tiananmen Square.

Tags: Beijing Olympics, china
Posted in Beijing Olympics, Sport Travel | Comments (0)

The LZR Racer has triggered a wave of world records in the pool. Now German swimmers say they could be clad in an even better high-tech suit at the Beijing Olympics.

Adidas developed a new suit after complaints in Germany that the country was headed to an Olympic fiasco against the Speedo suit.

“This gives us courage,” said Helge Meeuw, silver medalist from the Athens Olympics men’s 4×100 meter relay team. “This product is on the same level and may be even better.”

During the first two months after the LZR Racer’s introduction, 22 world records were shattered. Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima swam the latest record Sunday in the suit, touching at 2 minutes, 7.51 seconds in the men’s 200 meter breaststroke. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Beijing Olympics
Posted in Beijing Olympics | Comments (0)