Jade Adorns Beijing Olympics Medals

table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0">tbody>tr>td>table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="150">tbody>tr>td colspan="2">img src="/articles/images/Goldmedal_article.jpg">/td>/tr>tr>td style="padding: 5px;">span >/td>td width="12"> /td>/tr>/tbody>/table>/td>/tr>/tbody>/table>p>/p>p>(ATR) Medals for the Beijing Olympics will be inlaid with the classic Chinese symbol of jade. The medals were unveiled in a ceremony in the Olympic City, part of celebrations marking 500 days to go to the Games. /p>p>/p>p>"The medals represent Chinese and artistic characterisitics as well as the Olympic spirit," BOCOG Vice President Jiang Xiaoyu said at the launch ceremony./p>p>/p>p>The gold medal has an inlaid white jade ring, while the silver and bronze medals have rings of light green and dark green jade, respectively./p>p>/p>p>The inlaid rings represent ceremonial jade disks known as "bi" in ancient China./p>p>/p>p>They "symbolize nobility and virtue and are the embodiment of the traditional Chinese values of morality and honor", BOCOG said./p>p>/p>p>The front of the 70-millimeter-diameter, 6-millimeter-wide medal shows the standard image prescribed by the IOC: the winged goddess of victory Nike and an ancient stadium./p>p>/p>p>The reverse sides show a relief of the Beijing Games emblem in the center of the jade rings./p>p>/p>p>The IOC approved the medals after several changes to the original design, which was chosen from hundreds of entries entered into a competition./p>p>/p>p>The gold and silver medals artable align="left" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0">tbody>tr>td>table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="150">tbody>tr>td colspan="2">img src="/articles/images/bjmedal3_article.jpg">/td>/tr>tr>td style="padding: 5px;">span >/td>td width="12"> /td>/tr>/tbody>/table>/td>/tr>/tbody>/table>e both made of pure silver, but the Olympic champion medals are plated with about 6 grams of gold each. /p>p>/p>p>The ceremony to unveil the medals was held at Beijing''s Capital Museum, attended by government and Olympic officials, Chinese pop stars, former Olympic champions and schoolchildren./p>p>/p>p>The event was one of dozens held in Beijing and other Chinese cities to mark the 500-day countdown to the 2008 gatable align="right" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0">tbody>tr>td>table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="150">tbody>tr>td colspan="2">img src="/articles/images/MedalsCeremonyKids_article.jpg">/td>/tr>tr>td style="padding: 5px;">span >/td>td width="12"> /td>/tr>/tbody>/table>/td>/tr>/tbody>/table>ames. /p>p>/p>p>Schoolchildren across the capital held outdoor exhibitions of their Olympic-themed work early Tuesday./p>p>/p>p>An estimated 10,000 people took part in a long-distance walking event in Beijing''s Chaoyang Park on Sunday and the city will hold more sports events, launch new Olympic products, a webpage to recruit international "honorary visitors", and a campaign against swearing./p>p>/p>p>Beijing has also launched district table tennis competitions that may give the winners a chance to take part in a 10,000-player extravaganza on August 8, exactly one year before the 2008 Games./p>p>/p>p>i>Reported from Beijing by Bill Smith./i>/p>p>/p>p>b>Your best source of news about the Olympics is a href="http://www.aroundtherings.com/">www.aroundtherings.com/a>, for subscribers only. /b>/p>p>b>/b>/p>