Guo Chunning, the original designer of the Olympic emblem "Dancing Beijing" says the designing process involved a complex process during which its design was improved upon many times through various changes.

The original design of the Olympic emblem featured a human figure in the shape of the Chinese character "jing," which is a short form of Beijing. However, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee suggested the emblem needed to give people a stronger feeling of vitality and movement. Based on the advice from the Organizing Committee, Guo Chunning and his colleagues revised the emblem time and again, and bit by bit, they added features of vitality and movement to the emblem, eventually getting the committee's nod of approval for the design.

Guo Chunning said the designing of the words "Beijing 2008" also experienced some twists and turns. "The International Olympic Committee, the Beijing Organizing Committee and China's leaders were all in favor of using Chinese calligraphy to write the words. It was new for us to use brush to write English words. It was a bit difficult at the times."

Guo and his colleagues invited a renowned Chinese calligrapher to write several samples, deriving some inspiration from the process. And finally, their work was approved by the Olympic Organizing Committee.

The documentary promoting the emblem was the work of famous Chinese movie director Zhang Yimou. Zhang says the documentary focuses on humans and the theme's spirit of serving people. He says he hopes his work has displayed the vitality of the Chinese people and their efforts to seek progress. And he is happy he is able to make another contribution. Zhang also says he hopes to direct the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in 2008.

(CCTV.com August 4, 2003)