Restaurants and hair salons near China's "cradle of world champions," the training center of the General Administration of Sport, have already integrated the Olympics into their marketing campaigns.

The restaurants are now promoting themselves as places "where sports stars eat," while the hairdressers can offer clients copies of those haircuts requested by China's world champions.

Their promotion is drawing in customers - most of them huge sports fans.

A small beauty salon named Fa Ji Yun, which is just a 10-minute walk away from the area where the national volleyball, basketball and badminton teams train, has gained a measure of fame since world record hurdler Liu Xiang and iconic basketball player Yao Ming began getting their hair cut there.

Now the 30-square-meter salon is filled with fans waiting to have the same haircut as their idols and by the same hairstylist.

"I did the haircut for Liu Xiang before he left for the Athens Games. I cut his hair into several layers to achieve a dynamic effect when he runs," said the salon's chief stylist Chai Rong, who worked with 20 of China's gold medalists at the 2004 Athens Games.

According to owner Chai Jin, many sports fans, usually those with flower bouquets, do not come for haircuts but for signatures. When he cut Yao Ming's hair, the Houston Rockets center asked him to work quickly so he could skip out to avoid the large crowd.

Meanwhile, Yu Qiao Restaurant has become a backyard kitchen for China's men's volleyball squad.

Although those volleyball stars often hide themselves in a private room, their fans frequently visit the restroom hoping to bump into their idols, said one of the employees.

A compliment from one of the stars can have an instant impact on their business.

"When the fans heard that the volleyball players like our Kung-Pao Chicken, they started ordering that dish every time they come. Now Kung-Pao Chicken has become our signature dish," said one of the waitresses.

As for Wang's Nuts, a small shop selling homemade roasted nuts, its customers queue for hours to eat Yao Ming's favourite roasted chestnuts, said the owner.

"Yao Ming must have tried many delicacies. If he says something is good, it must be really good," said one of the customers.