(BEIJING, June 12) -- A brand new official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games was launched on Tuesday. The new site is based on a solid foundation of quick Games-time turnaround making use of mature, mainstream technology, an elegant color scheme and tasteful design, and clear and simply organization for ease of use.

Since 2001, the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games has undergone numerous facelifts, from the modest website used solely for reporting news at the onset gradually evolving into a comprehensive platform for news about the preparation for the Games, society and sports news, as well as for interaction with web users. The volume of official website visitors surpassed 1.3 million visitors the day the official mascots were released. The changes in the official website of the BEIJING 2008 reflects the continual progress with the preparations for the Games.

The new official website combines insight from the multiple discussions among various groups, including the design team for the new website, professionals from the IOC, professionals from internet project groups, and the contractor Sohu.com Inc. It fully takes into consideration the browsing experience of visitors. From a design angle, the new official website adheres to the BEIJING 2008 image and look using green-blue and Chinese scholar tree green as its main colors. The overall design has perfectly balanced, aesthetically pleasing look, representing a green and humanistic Olympics and possesses lasting representative Chinese characteristics and essence. In terms of content design, the new official website places more emphasis on the visitor's experience as well as service functions. The organization of the website is simple, with a more intuitive layout.

The new official website uses page code technology, various media and mature technologies, giving users a whole new reading experience, with a range of interactive products and newly added service functions, thereby adding to the website's level of appeal and service standards.

Currently, the official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games is offered in three languages -- Chinese, English, and French. The specific requirements for language group were fully considered in designing every part of the website, from column placement to subject schemes.

"The site [new site] is going to be a more complete reflection of what BOCOG has grown into." An expert expressed his optimism about the brand new official website. "I congratulate the [design] team on the work that's been done and know that this will be an important next step to achieving the best Games-time website ever because the entire world will be coming to visit, and I'm sure that it will set every record for visitors to a website that's ever happened during the Olympic Games."