Six years down, eight months to go

Sebastian Coe (center), chairman of the organizing committee for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, laughs with Olympic gold medal gymnast Yang Yilin (left) and Paralympian Lin Furong at the British embassy in Beijing on Sunday. Coe launched the "Olympic bicycles" initiative in Beijing, designed to encourage embassy staff to take a low-carbon approach to traveling around the city for official business. Zou Hong / China Daily