IN BRIEF (Page 23)

GOLF

Video website sets out to please golf lovers

A new golf video website - www.funfungolf.com - was launched recently in Beijing, making it the only golf website covering the whole nation.

Created by the Star Investment Co Ltd, the website provides clips of golf competitions and other related activities like seminars, clinics, training, players' biographies, competition information and business discussions.

The website also signed a strategic partnership with three of China's leading websites - cctv.com, southcn.com and eastday.com.

Besides providing information for golf enthusiasts, the website chronicles the nation's latest developments in golf.

MISCELLANEOUS

China launches lottery with Olympics theme

The China Sports Lottery Administrative Center on Sunday launched two kinds of sports lotteries - the Olympic lottery and the Instant Lottery.

The Olympics-themed lottery will start issuing tickets on April 28 and end on August 7, the eve of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games. Another four kinds of lottery tickets will be sold during the Games from August 8 to 23.

The Instant Lottery started selling tickets yesterday in Shandong Province and will go nationwide in May and June.

China's first sports lottery ticket was sold in 1984 when Chinese athletes first took part in the Olympics at the Los Angeles Games.

Wang Weidong, director of the administrative center, said the Olympics-themed lottery would promote the Olympic spirit and spread the idea of the People's Olympic as it was introduced by the organizers of the Beijing Games.

Sports fans plant 2,008 olive trees for peace in Olympia

A group of Chinese sports fans and peace lovers will travel to Olympia in Athens and plant 2,008 olive trees there in support of the Olympia World Peace Forest.

The act was announced on Saturday at an auction of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in conjunction with the 112th anniversary birth of Marshal He Long, China's first sports minister.

A group of noted Chinese artists either attended the auction or sent their works to show their love for the Olympics and peace, and in memory of the late sports official.

People's Daily online expands Olympic strategy campaign

People.com.cn, the website of leading national newspaper People's Daily, has reached an agreement with Japan's Asahi.com and Korea's Donga.com to share information and platforms during the Beijing Olympic Games.

It is the website's most recent move since launching its Olympic strategy campaign a month ago, which aims to offer the best online services for Internet users during the Beijing Games.

It is their first collaboration since they launched "My Olympics My Home", a photo collection campaign targeted at Internet users from the three countries.

By collecting different photos of the torch relay and the scenery of cities the torch passes through, the campaign will help promote the Beijing Games' slogan - One World, One Dream.

(China Daily 03/25/2008 page23)