Taipei team gets warm welcome in own tongue

Chen Zhili, the mayor of the Olympic Village, usually makes her welcome speeches to National Olympic Committee delegations - held during the flag-raising ceremonies to mark they have moved in - only in English.

But on Wednesday, she tried something new.

As she welcomed the Chinese Taipei delegation, Chen said: "Welcome to Beijing", then immediately repeated the phrase in a perfect Minnan accent, the southern Fujian dialect spoken by most people from Taiwan province.