Source: China Daily

12-03-2008 18:58

Special Report:   30 Years of Changes

By Liu Jie (China Daily)

If the Olympics are a time for medals, many people earned theirs before the Games began.

Golden Resources Shopping Mall, with six floors and a total area  of 680,000 sq m, has been nicknamed the Great Mall of China. Located  on Yuanda Road in Haidian district, it is 1.5 times the size of the Mall of America and was the world's largest shopping mall when it  opened in 2004.[China Daily]

These Olympians are the service providers, especially the entrepreneurs, who have changed Beijing from a city where consumers often had only one option into a city of virtually endless choices. And they have done this in less than 30 years.

For foreigners, Beijing in the 1970s was a hardship post. Here was the capital city of a nation of more than 1 billion people with one restaurant serving Peking duck, one department store for foreigners, and at most three hotels for international tourists.

This summer, Beijing welcomes an estimated 450,000 overseas tourists, including 40,000 athletes, coaches, officials, and journalists. They are expected to spend some $4.5 billion.

They find a city transformed. Beijing today offers not only superb facilities but also excellent service for visitors, whether they seek dining, shopping, or accommodations.