A total of 21 880 torchbearers will be selected to carry the holy flame from Greece to Beijing in next year Summer Olympics. In addition, 5000 escort runners from mainland China will also be picked for the relay. The theme for the torch relay, 鈥淛ourney of Harmony鈥�, and the slogan 鈥淟ight the Passion, Share the Dream鈥� are just perfect, right?

According to the selection program, there will be a total of 21,880 torchbearers. Among these, 19,400 will be assigned to the relay on the Chinese mainland, and 2,480 to the relay in overseas cities and Taipei, Hong Kong, and Macau.

It’s the flame in everyone’s heart…that counts.

Via Guanxi Blogs

Japan, Hello Kitty. China, panda. And when you fuse these two together, you’ll get Hello Panda (the biscuits). Ok, probably lame but recently, Hello Kitty is spotted in a panda costume (Kitty Panda) to signal that the Beijing Summer Olympics 2008 is coming up.

鈥淭he Olympics are coming up. That is what we have in mind,鈥� said Kazuo Tomatsu, a spokesman for Hello Kitty maker Sanrio Co.

We expect Sanrio, the parent company of the famous kitty, to line up a slew of Kitty products for Kitty fans, Olympics fans, kawaii girls and mature office ladies (OL).

Drool. I want a Kitty Panda or OL.

Via yingdong’s blog

Samsung E848 is a 0.42-inch thin, 2-megapixel camera phone. The reason that this phone is linked with the Beijing Olympics next year is that it will sport the Beijing Olympics logo. And yes, its reflective side may act as a mirror, probably the best function this phone may have. To add, Samsung has 3 phones line up for the Games.

I predict that a lot of gadgets are trying their best to associate with the Olympics. Ya, trying.

Via Akihabaranews

Four factories in China are cited in a report that they have violated labour rights - not giving minimum wage, using child labour and forcing workers to work overtime without giving compensation. BBC visited two of the four factories stated in the report but had found nothing suspicious.

Playfair - an alliance of world trade unions - has condemned “severe workers’ rights violations” in four Chinese factories ahead of the Beijing games.

The group said it found abuses at the factories - licensed to make official Olympic caps, bags and stationery.

Workers working in Chinese factories are mostly farmers who strive for a better fture for their families. Although they earn as little as 700 yuan ($91) a month, this amount means a lot to them. I agree that businesses are profit-oriented but if they were human-oriented, the final results would be better.

As the Beijing Olympics is drawing near, companies are flocking to gain a piece of the lucrative Olympics pie. The spending of online advertising in China is expected to hit $1.79 billion in 2008. Will Google become the king of online advertising or China’s Baidu or Sina takes the bigger part of the pie? We shall see.

Tom Doctoroff, China chief executive officer of JWT, an international advertising giant, recently commented, “Every single company under the sun has, or is preparing, some kind of Olympic pitch.”

What are your thoughts?