Beijing, March 27 (DPA) Beijing unveiled striking new Olympic medals inlaid with jade rings on their reverse sides Tuesday, as the city continued celebrations to mark 500 days until the 2008 games.
"The medals represent Chinese and artistic characteristics as well as the Olympic spirit," Jiang Xiaoyu, vice president of the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (BOCOG), said at the ceremony to unveil the medals.
The gold medal has an inlaid white jade ring, while the silver and bronze medals have rings of light green and dark green jade, respectively.
The inlaid rings represent ceremonial jade disks known as "bi" in ancient China.
The jade rings "symbolise nobility and virtue and are the embodiment of the traditional Chinese values of morality and honour," BOCOG said.
The front of the 70-millimetre-diameter medals show the standard image prescribed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) - the winged goddess of victory Nike and the Panathinaikos Arena.
The reverse sides show a relief of the Beijing Games emblem in the centre of the jade rings.
The IOC approved the medal designs after several changes to the original design, which was chosen from hundreds of entries to the design competition.
The gold and silver medals are both made of pure silver, but the Olympic champions' medals are plated with about 6 grams of gold each.
The ceremony to unveil the medals was held at Beijing's Capital Museum, attended by government and Olympic officials, Chinese pop stars, former Olympic champions and a group of local schoolchildren.
The event was one of dozens held in Beijing and other Chinese cities to mark the 500-day countdown to the 2008 games.
Schoolchildren across the capital held outdoor exhibitions of their Olympic-themed work early Tuesday.
An estimated 10,000 people took part in a long-distance walking event in Beijing's Chaoyang Park Sunday and the city is marking the date with more public sports events, the launch of new Olympic products, a web page to recruit international "honorary visitors", and a campaign against swearing.
Beijing has also launched district table tennis competitions that may give the winners a chance to take part in a 10,000-player extravaganza Aug 8, exactly one year before the 2008 games.
Top leaders of China's ruling Communist Party last Friday said the main work to prepare for the 2008 Olympics must finish this year and urged the whole nation to strive to make the games a success.
China should organise a unique, high-quality, frugal, corruption-free and environmentally friendly Olympics, said the statement by the party's elite, 25-member Politburo led by President Hu Jintao.