This is the self body-painting Human Beijing Olympic Torch.

Food is one the must-haves in this year Beijing Olympic Games. 24-hour inspections by health inspectors are carried out in 148 food plants that provide those delicacies for Beijing 2008.

“Our responsibility is to maintain a 24-hour vigil on production… I haven’t been home for months,” the paper quoted Liu Yinghong, an inspector at a surburban Beijing factory, as saying.

Via AFP

16-year-old Yang Yilin of the Chinese Gymnastics Team

China will send the greatest fleet of Olympic athletes to battle in the homeground. 639 is the number.

See other uprising sports talents

One Korea SBS reporter just shot the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony rehearsal and put it up on Korean TV, now everywhere on the Web. The sad part is that we still do not know how the Olympic flame (the real climax) will be lighted up.

A reporter at SBS in Seoul denied the broadcaster had acted inappropriately to obtain the footage.

“We went, and nobody stopped us. So we just shot,” the unnamed reporter told Reuters.

Via Aljazeera

Everyone is getting an iPhone 3G these days but some iPhones such as this De Vere 88-diamond studded 3G Beijing Olympic iPhone will need more than just patience as it will burn a $8224 hole in your pocket. There are other Olympic iPhone versions which come with 28 diamonds ($3376) or 168 diamonds ($15493) to welcome the Beijing 2008.

8 is the lucky number in Chinese-speaking territories and 168 when pronounced in Cantonese means having abundance or making tons of money all the way.

Via SlipperyBrick

With just a week to go before the Olympics, Australia鈥檚 David and Victoria Beckham - Eamon Sullivan and Stephanie Rice have announced their break up on the social networking site Facebook.

Via 2008 Games Beijing

As the Beijing Olympic Games is getting nearer by the minute, a new trend (or old business) is also getting hotter in the streets. Gambling seems to be the new Olympic sports. Olympic lottery tickets or Scratch-&-Win cards are selling everywhere. From supermarkets, bookstores, post offices, petrol kiosks to streets outside restuarants and markets, these Olympic cards can be found at a convenient location near you. With just 10 yuan, one can stike a winning sum of 200 000 yuan ($29 314).

Everyone is hoping that Lady Luck is smiling at him or her.

Elasun, China’s condom manufacturer, has Olympic-related ads that are a hit in the local scene. In the advertisements, the condoms are portrayed to be highly elastic and versatile, with links to various Beijing Olympic sports such basketball, swimming and cycling. Slogan of 鈥淪ports make you health鈥� is used although we don’t see the need for it.

Ingenious?

Condom Adverts Photo Gallery

Journalists at Beijing International Media Center (BIMC) are having trouble accessing web sites such as Amnesty site, Human Rights Watch, Chinese language sites for BBC, Voice of America and Hong Kong’s Apple Daily.

China routinely blocks access to Web sites it deems inappropriate, including those containing pornography, violence, magic and superstition themes, and especially anti-government material, such as those critical of the Chinese Communist Party or supporting independence for Taiwan, Tibet, or Xinjiang.

So much for media freedom.

Via PC World

United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be giving out cash rewards to its athletes if they clinch a first, second or third place. The first gets 1 million dirhams ($272,480), second takes 750,000 dirhams and the third will take away 500,000 dirhams.

The UAE will send a team of eight athletes to Beijing Olympics, which is the largest delegation sent by the Gulf country to the Olympic Games.

Via Xinhua