Enthusiasm in China over the Beijing Olympic Games extends far beyond the capital city, a survey released Monday showed.

The study conducted for public relations and advertising company Ogilvy showed that 74 percent of Chinese were "excited or very excited" about China hosting its first Olympics. The survey also showed a high degree of "national pride" in the games, with 72 percent saying they were proud of China.

The other major finding indicated that only 2 percent of Beijing residents planned to leave the city during the August 8-24 games. This is lower than the last two games in Athens and Sydney.

Of the four major cities surveyed, the highest enthusiasm level was found in the southern city Guangzhou (80 percent) followed by Beijing (79) and Shanghai (74) and Chongqing (72).

On the negative side, 56 percent of respondents said they were concerned about traffic and overcrowding. Beijing's pollution was listed by 40 percent as a concern.

Officials said the survey was conducted along the route of the Olympic Torch Relay in China.

Miles Young, chairman of Ogilvy in the Asia-pacific region, said the survey was conducted for the company's clients. The company has done advertising or public relations work for 15 Olympics sponsors. Among the largest are Johnson & Johnson, Volkswagen, UPS, Sohu and Great Wall Wines.

The survey was undertaken by Millward Brown, which conducts marketing and media research. It was conducted online with 2,687 respondents from four major cities and 20 provinces. The age range was 12-54. The margin of error was 3 percent.

(China Daily March 11, 2008)