Special report: 2008 Olympic Games
BEIJING, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Jubilant overseas Chinese held colorful activities on Tuesday and Wednesday to celebrate the 100-day countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In Harare, some 50 representatives of Chinese immigrants, entrepreneurs, media personnel and diplomats gathered at the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe from early Wednesday afternoon to jointly witness the historic moment.
Signatures were collected on the letter to the International Olympic Committee in support of the Beijing Olympics and a singing performance was staged. Basketball games and golf matches were also planned to celebrate the occasion.
All Chinese in Zimbabwe should actively introduce the Beijing Olympics to the local people and make efforts to push forward the healthy development of the Sino-Zimbabwean friendly ties, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Yuan Nansheng told the party.
Guo Yongnian, president of the Chinese Association in the southwestern Zimbabwean city of Bulawayo, who drove 400 km to Harare, said the whole Chinese community in the second largest Zimbabwean city was as excited as all the Chinese people around the world, and had been watching the Olympic torch relay through TV and radio broadcasts.
In Bamako, the Chinese embassy invited Mali's Olympic Committee officials and various media to a press conference on Tuesday morning to mark the 100-day countdown.
In the evening, the embassy hosted a party for Mali's parliamentary and government officials, foreign diplomats as well as Chinese in the West African country.
Ambassador Zhang Guoqing and Mali's Parliament Speaker Dionconda Traore jointly unveiled a countdown clock and presented honorary certificates to donors of the construction of Olympic stadiums.
On the same day, a "New Beijing, New Olympics" photo exhibition attracted over 70 Mali students and teachers to the Chinese embassy. Olympic mascots Fuwa were awarded to those who gave right answers to questions concerning the quadrennial sports event.
In Nigeria's economic hub Lagos, a cultural display for the Olympics countdown was held at the headquarters of the Nigerian Postal Service Wednesday.
About 200 people, including students, bankers, traders, among many others, turned out to watch the event and showed their support and welcome for the Beijing Olympics.
The ceremony was attended by Guo Kun, the Consular General of the People's Republic of China in Nigeria.
To commemorate the occasion, the Chinese envoy also sent out a friendship and support letter to the Chinese Foreign Ministry with a stamp with Nigerian sportsmen on it.
The consular said: "I am very delighted to be here today because today marks 100 days countdown to the upcoming Olympic Games in China."
"The Games have always brought people together in peace to respect universal moral principles," he said.
He wished both Chinese and Nigerian athletes would do an excellent job at the Games.
The Nigerian Postal Service has set Aug. 8 for launching a special stamp for the Beijing Olympic Games.
In Paris, leaders of several Chinese associations in France held a seminar Wednesday to voice their support for the summer Olympics in Beijing.
Chen Shengwu, chair of a group, said Aug. 8 is also his birthday.
He believes that the Beijing Olympics will be a great success.
Ye Xingqiu, acting chief of a Chinese poetic group in France, read aloud a poem he wrote for the Olympics to express his heartfelt aspiration.
Also on Wednesday, in an interview with Italy's semi-official Ansa News Agency, Sun Yuxi, Chinese Ambassador to Italy, said that during the Games, the Chinese people will receive friends from allover the world with passion, friendliness and hospitality, and will help realize the main theme of the Beijing Olympics -- "One World, One Dream" through their actions.
