The authorities set up three designated protest zones in three parks, two in downtown and another in the outskirts of the city.

The zones saw no protests. Police officials said that as the government resolved the complaints after negotiations with applicants, the would-be protesters withdrew their applications.

While being proud of leading the gold medal count, the Chinese showed none of the excessive nationalism feared by some foreign media before the Games. As some internet users said, China did not need gold medals to show its power.

"Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world," said Rogge in his speech at the closing ceremony.

Hosting the Games was more of a challenge considering the ordeals China experienced this year. The year of the mouse in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar has been extraordinary, featuring natural and man-made calamities. In March, a few separatists ran riot in Lhasa and the Tibetan-inhabited regions in neighboring provinces.

On May 12, the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province killed almost 70,000 people. In a mournful mood, the whole country immediately mobilized for relief work.

Tibetan separatists disrupted the Olympic torch relay in France. When the nation mourned for the quake dead from May 19 to 21, the torch relay was halted for three days.

However, when basketball star Yao Ming went into the Bird's Nest as flag bearer of Chinese team, he was with 7-year-old Lin Hao, a quake survivor from Sichuan. China showed it had overcome the trials.

"The Beijing Games is testimony to the fact that the world has its trust rested in China," said Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games. "The Chinese people, filled with enthusiasm, have honored the commitments they solemnly made."

Although the Games have ended, the legacy stays. Fascinated by the clear skies in those days, people are calling for continued controls on the use of vehicles after the Games.

"The Games gave us a more open and mature attitude," said Professor Hu Jiqing from Nanjing University. "This attitude featured magnanimity, tolerance and pluralism.

"More importantly, it embodies a more confident nation," said the professor Hu.

When American female volleyball team, headed by Coach Lang Ping, a former Chinese star player, defeated China in the semifinals, Chinese did not rebuke her as "traitor". When sprinter Liu Xiang, gold medalist of 110m hurdle in Athens 2004 and one of China's most famous athletes, quit the games because of an injured Achilles' tendon, most Chinese expressed their understanding.

Just 20 years ago, Chinese gymnast Li Ning, who won three gold medals in 1984 Los Angeles Games, found a bullet in an anonymous envelope after his poor performance in Seoul Games in 1988.

Thanks to the 30 years of development, China is more open-minded and confident, and hopes to merge more with the world in the spirit of the Olympic slogan "One World, One Dream".

"Inspired by the Olympic spirit, the Chinese people want to join with people of all other countries to write a new chapter for the international Olympic Movement, and create a better future for mankind," said Chinese President Hu Jintao in an group interview with foreign media before the Games.

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2008)