With the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games fast approaching, visitors to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, are also finding themselves close to the Orient, as China elements currently adorn the museum adjacent to Lake Geneva and the surrounding park.

The red cap of a replica of Temple of Heaven can be seen outside the Olympic Museum. It attracts about 200,000 visiters a year and the number of Chinese visitors have been on the rise.

A red poster about 3 m tall celebrating the Beijing Games is visible even from a mile away. A ribbon with introductions to Chinese history and culture has been unfurled in the park leading up to the entrance of the museum. Inside, a Chinese lantern and a ball of fire symbolizing strength and light introduces visitors to the exhibitions of the Beijing Games.

In less than two months, more than one third of the museum's most significant and valuable exhibits will be shipped to Beijing and displayed on the Olympex, the Olympic Expo 2008 Beijing.

"The Beijing Olympic Expo is the first time that there will be a truly international exhibition combining Olympic culture and sports," said Timo Lumme, marketing director of International Olympic Committee (IOC), in an interview with China Daily earlier this month at IOC headquarters in Lausanne.

According to him, apart from exhibitions focusing on Olympic stamps, badges and coins, other programs, such as the IOC's sport and art competition to which national Olympic committees submit art pieces, will feature in the Beijing Olympic Expo.

"The Beijing Olympic Expo will be a new step to carry on the tradition of strong linkage between culture and the Olympic Games. The IOC hopes it will become a legacy to future games too," said Lumme.

Lumme also praised the smooth preparatory work and efficient co-operation among the IOC, BOCOG, the Chinese Olympic Committee and China Post.

"The IOC and the Chinese counterparts have been working like one team although we do not speak the same language," Francis Gabet, director of the Olympic Museum, told China Daily.

"There are a lot of stories behind the exhibits in the Olympic Museum. There are joyful, beautiful or sad stories. There are also stories about design and art. We have selected pieces for the Beijing Olympic Expo from a cultural approach, so there will be a lot of pieces of art and items like torches and medals," Gabet said.

The shipping of the 500-odd exhibits will begin in mid July, he said.

Initiated by Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC's honorary president for life, the Beijing Olympic Expo intends to showcase the Olympic spirit, culture and history.

Altogether some 1,000 frames of stamps with a considerable number of coins, pins and other commemorative items from the collections of the IOC Philately, Numismatic and Memorabilia Commission will go on display during the Expo, to be held at the Beijing Exhibition Center from Aug 8-18.

It is hoped some 10,000 spectators will be drawn to the Olympic Expo everyday when it kicks off on Aug 8, the same day the Beijing Olympic Games begins.

(China Daily June 23, 2008)