A commercial street to be occupied by Beijing Olympic partners and showcase Beijing character is to appear in the Olympic Village during Games-time, according to Wu Jingmi, director of BOCOG's Olympic Village Department.

"Aside from being larger, the Beijing Olympic Village is not much different from the Olympic Villages of past Games," said Wu. To highlight Beijing's special features, a commercial street containing three courtyard-style houses will be set up inside the village. The courtyard house will have 25 shops occupied by the partners of the Beijing Olympic Games.

In addition, Wu revealed that because media are not allowed inside the Olympic Village to conduct interviews, a media workroom with 50 workstations has been set up in the village's international zone.

(BOCOG January 17, 2008)