Mayor of Beijing Wang Qishan waves the Olympic flag handed to him by President of IOC Dr. Jacques Rogge at the closing ceremony for the 28th Olympic Games held at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, August 29, 2004.

The 28th Summer Olympic Games has come to a successful end and the Olympic relay has passed its baton to Beijing.

We congratulate Athens for a dream games despite previous skepticism over Athens' construction scheduling. The Greeks have delivered such a great Games over the past two weeks that the world could enjoy the sporting extravaganza and get a taste of Greek civilization.

The Chinese will remember this summer in Athens. Our team reeled in their best-ever haul of 32 gold medals, second only to the United States, who grabbed 35. The outstanding performances could only buoy national pride and the public's enthusiasm for sport.

Even more touching than the medals themselves is the fact that the Chinese have come to understand the values the Olympics represent.

The growing popularity of sports at home and the incentive of the Chinese team's glory in Athens offer plenty of reasons to believe Beijing will be able to honour its pledge to host a great Olympics in 2008.

Yet China still has much to do in sports to match its status as Olympics host.

The stunning harvest of medals in Athens is a result of a training system that has moulded promising Chinese athletes into world champions; a system that has secured Chinese dominance in table tennis, diving and weightlifting but more importantly gained a foothold in traditionally weak sports like athletics, tennis and swimming.

In sport, China lags far behind many other countries in public participation, physical education and spending on facilities.

Top sports official Yuan Weimin has admitted medals alone do not prove China is a "sporting power." Most of our 1.3 billion citizens are also down to earth about it.

It is missing the point to simply expect more medals from the Chinese team in the next Olympics. It is even misleading to hope to beat the current leader of the medals table when the nation is still a far cry from claiming to be a sports power.

We need an Olympics to promote the "nationwide body-building" our country has long championed, to make our citizens health-conscious and physically strong as well as mentally strong.

We need the Olympics to deter people from materialistic desires and aim for the ideals of enterprise, fair play and perseverance.

We need the Olympics to strengthen our nation as we build our society into a xiaokang, a moderately prosperous one.

There is no doubt most Chinese people appreciate the real spirit of the Olympics, but we must make sure we do not let medals mania override real sport.

China can also not forget its special duty as hosts - from Olympia to the Great Wall, we are duty-bound to create an environment that ensures each athlete will display his or her skills and sportsmanship to the best of their ability.

With mayor Wang Qishan bringing the International Olympic Committee's flag from Athens today, Beijing will beef up its endeavour to prepare for a successful Games.

Despite a few headaches, like Beijing's traffic problems, the Chinese capital has many advantages: powerful government organizational strength, sufficient funds, experiences from former hosts, and a public support rate above 95 per cent.

As long as our organizers and people adhere to the real value of the Olympics, it should be no problem for Beijing to present a great 2008 Games where the world can feel at home.

Source: China Daily