CRI听力:Beijing Week Closes at Milan Expo

The promotional video for the Chinese capital's bid was played at the closing ceremony of Beijing Week, where free-style skier and world champion Li Nina was also present.

Li has a new take on the Olympic spirit since becoming ambassador for Beijing's bid for the Winter Games.

She hopes more people will get to know China through the city's bid.

"I have a soft spot for Italy, as I won my first Olympic medal in Turin. This trip gives me an opportunity to better understand the country and I hope our activities will help Italians to better understand China."

During the week-long event, acrobats, dancers, and opera singers put on shows to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Beijing.

One of the activities was a gallery with the theme, "Glamorous Beijing, Exciting Olympics."

It showcased dozens of photos of the city which are all shot by foreign photographers.

These various activities attracted 15,000 visitors each day.

Some showed their interests in China and voiced their support for Beijing's winter Olympic bidding.

"I watched the opening ceremony and some competitions of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Game. The spectacular performances and stage design impressed me a lot. I didn't know Beijing is bidding for the Winter Olympic Games. But I will follow Beijing's progress in the bid after seeing the activities during Beijing Week."

As the week-long event wraps up, it has also been announced that another international event is going to be staged in Beijing.
Italian pavilion curator Stefano Gatti.

"Beijing will host the World Horticultural Expo in 2019. After Shanghai successfully hosted the 2010 Expo, Beijing is expected to take over the responsibility for other international expositions. The city has held the 2008 Olympic Games, and is now bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. All these achievements indicate Beijing has the tradition of organizing major international events, which makes it very competitive in the 2022 bid."

Earlier this week, the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission underlined the huge winter sport potential in its assessment report on Beijing's bid.

The report confirmed that Beijing has the key elements in place to stage a highly successful Olympic Winter Games, based on the city's experience and expertise gained from hosting the 2008 Beijing Games and the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games last year.

The IOC will decide between Beijing or Almaty, Kazakhstan as the 2022 Olympic host on July 31.

For CRI, I'm Fu Yu.