The announcement was made at a press conference at the Beijing Olympic Media Center on Thursday.

During the Beijing Olympics, some 7 million people from home and abroad are expected to go to Beijing to attend the Games. Under the circumstances, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) has done an all-round research on spectators' information demand in the different phases of the run-up to the Games, and decided to open up a channel for the spectators. The website adds a new information source to the channel.

The "Spectators" channel includes "The Spectator Services," "Launching Your Olympics Journey," "Welcome to Beijing," an introduction to co-host cities, as well as "Friendly Tips." It will be linked to the Ticketing Center's website and its own pages on the Olympic venues, sports and licensed products. Spectators can find the link to the websites of the Hong Kong Equestrian Committee and Qingdao Sailing Committee right now.

Overseas visitors can familiarize themselves with Beijing by clicking "Welcome to Beijing". The information on accommodation, tourist attractions, shopping, entertainment and creation, religious places and restaurants will help them to prepare their trip to Beijing. The "Friendly Tips" cover visa, dressing customs, transport, communications, exchange rate, accessible facilities and emergency numbers.

The Beijing Tourism Administration has highlighted the information about the most famous scenic spots, life in Beijing, and the most favorite souvenirs. The new edition of www.visitbeijing.com redesigned the channels on food, lodging, transport and sightseeing and displays its pages in Chinese, English and French concurrently.