Four young men from Shanghai are planning to spend 800 days traveling to all 202 member states of the International Olympic Committee to welcome athletes and visitors to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

The world tour is scheduled to start from the city on April 11 next year and the group will arrive in the capital on August 8, 2008 in time for the opening ceremonies of the 29th Olympic Games.

Elite Bao, one of the four travelers, said the group plans to embody the Olympic spirit, stimulate public passion toward the Olympic Games and help the world better understand China.

The four travelers, who are all 30 years old, have been friends since childhood and set up their own trade company after they all graduated from Fudan University.

When they came up with plans for the trip last year, they set up an office to handle planning and preparations and a Website (www.800days.com) to publicize the task. Bao says the foursome will cover all of the expenses of the trip themselves, a figure he puts at near 12 million yuan (US$1.44 million).

"If it was a sponsored tour, we would distribute all the money to the International Red Cross," he added.

The biggest problem at the moment is getting visas to enter all of the IOC member countries. As they aren't part of any national organization, the team may encounter trouble getting visas because there are about 50 countries of the 202 member states who have not established diplomatic relationship with China yet. "We keep in close touch with the Beijing-based national Olympic Committee in the hope of smoothing over such obstacles," Bao said.

On arrival in every foreign country, the expedition team will interview local Olympic athletes and invite them to the Beijing Olympic Games.

Accompanied by another four men who are interpreters and cameramen, the eight-member group plans to drive two cars to accomplish the world tour. They and the cars will travel between continents on ships.

(Shanghai Daily April 20, 2005)