Even stone-faced officers manage to grin under the huge signboards of "Smiling Beijing Traffic Police" recently erupted on Beijing's streets.

With only five days to go before the Olympics open, Beijing is all smiles and niceties to worldwide athletes, coaches, journalists and other Olympic visitors in town.

Liu Zhiqiang, 21, smiles a hearty smile every time a tourist poses for a photo next to him.

From where he stands guard on the Tian'anmen Square in the heart of Beijing, one captures an ideal angle of the huge Olympic countdown clock, the square and a corner of the blue sky.

"I'm really proud of my job," said Liu. "My old pals all envy me."

When Liu became a soldier with the Armed Police Force, the Games were at least 1,300 days away. Now he said he heard the footsteps of the Games.

A tale of three villages

Smiles and greetings surround Olympic journalists at the North Star media village and Huiyuan media village, about 15 minutes and nine minutes respectively from the Main Press Center by bus.

More than 8,900 people are serving accredited Olympic journalists in the 10.2-hectare media village with 6,000 rooms, the largest in Olympic history.

From TV programs and hot water temperature to the height of toilets, all facilities in the rooms have been fine-tuned to be convenient and comfortable.

"What can I do for you?" smiling volunteers would come up at the villagers' briefest sign of hesitation.

At the two media villages, restaurant managers in suit and tie strike up friendly little chats with diners to check on the quality of food and take note of their advice.

Among the immediate results of these chats is the inclusion of some spicy dishes in the buffet, at some Chinese journalists' suggestion.

In the largest athletes' village ever in Olympic history, a team of international hotel management professionals and multilingual volunteers greet the guests from smiles and hospitality.