Cost of the games
£20bn, including new subway lines, an airport terminal, a light railway, roads and sporting venues. The Olympic stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest cost £250m, much of which went on the 41,875 tonnes of steel included in the unusual lattice design
Relocation
An estimated 1.5 million people have been moved for the Olympics and for games-related projects, according to the Geneva-based Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions. China says only 6,000 residents have been relocated
Visitors
The Beijing municipal tourism bureau said on July 11 this year that the occupancy rate in five-star hotels was 77%, and that of four-star hotels just 44%. The travel agency Ctrip said hotels had cut their room rates by up to a fifth. Based on past Olympics, the organisers had predicted 500,000 foreign and 1.1 million mainland tourists, generating 116bn yuan (£8bn) of business. But visas have been hard to come by for visitors
Security
A 100,000-strong security force of armed police, commandos and other troops is stationed around the city. The authorities have installed 300,000 surveillance cameras and sited anti-aircraft missiles next to the Bird's Nest. ID checks have been stepped up. People who give police detailed evidence of a "major security threat" to the Beijing Olympics could receive a reward of between 10,000 and 500,000 yuan (five times the usual maximum amount)
General preparations
The organisers have recruited more than 400,000 volunteers. About 40m pots of flowers are brightening up the city's streets. More than 1m cars have been taken off the roads and 200 factories closed to ease air pollution
