Chapter 3: Approximation & Estimation - Interesting Figures about the Beijing Olympics

Source: My Paper Friday August 8, 2008

1. Number of days from Opening to Closing Ceremony = 16 days [exact]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics
• Period: 6 to 24 August 2008

2. Cost of Opening Ceremony Ticket = 5000 yuan [exact]

• Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/16/content_5981951.htm
• There was a range of tickets: Opening Ceremony $200 yuan - $5000 yuan

3. Tickets sold for the game = 7,000,000 [approximated]

• Source: http://en.beijing2008.cn/tickets/news/n214482741.shtml
• In all, 6.8 million Olympic tickets were available for domestic and foreign sales.

4. Number of athletes competing = 10, 500 [approximated]

• Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics
• Note: 11,028 athletes competed

5. Number of sports = 28 [exact]

• Source: http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/

6. Number of nations competing = 205 [exact]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics
• Note: 204 competed [Brunei did not participate]

7. Number of permanent residents in Beijing (2007) = 16,330,000 [approximated]

• http://en.beijing2008.cn/tickets/news/n214482741.shtml
• "Beijing had 15.6 million permanent residents at the end of last year" (i.e. 2007)

8. Number of bicycles in Beijing = 10,000,000 [approximated]

• Source: http://www.china.org.cn/english/Life/49302.htm.htm
• "The number of bicycles in Beijing has continued to increase over the past few years, reaching 10 million by the end of last year." (article reported in 2002)

9. Number of accredited journalists = 21,600 [approximated]
10. Cost of ticket for general admission for softball preliminaries = 50 yuan [exact]
11. Number of official Olympic and paralympic volunteers = 100,000 [approximated]
12. Number of city volunteers to provide tourist services and bolster security = 400,000 [approximated]
13. Number of social volunteers at community level = 1,000,000 [approximated]
14. Weight of rubbished produced in the city (in 2006) = 5,850,000 tonnes [approximated]
15. Forecast number of cars in Beijing by the time of games = 3,300,000 [approximated]
16. Expected number of visitors to Beijing during the games = 2, 500,000 [approximated]
17. Investment in environmental improvement from 1998 to 2006 = 120 billion yuan [approximated]
18. Number of old buses and taxis to be taken off the road before the games = 65,000 [approximated]
19. Length of train track in Beijing by 2008 = 198 km [approximated]