Beijing's oldest downtown commercial street, or the Qianmen Street, will open to tourists on Aug. 7 after a year of renovation, a day ahead of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

As the capital's oldest neighborhood built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Qianmen, south to the Tiananmen Square, is expected to become a new tourist attraction during the Games, a local official told reporters on Tuesday.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)