by Xinhua Writer Yang Jianxiang　

    BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- After attracting millions of people during the Olympic Games, the 30 little cabins that present China's intangible cultural heritages in the Beijing Olympic Green are ready to welcome visitors during the Paralympics that started Saturday evening.

    The project, called the China Story and managed by six young women, might be the best known of events with which the city fulfilled its pledge of making the Games a cultural occasion too.

    The first round of operation, Aug. 9-23, recorded a big success. Most visitors to the Olympic Green viewed the exhibits and performance in at least several cabins. The number of viewers were estimated to be around 300,000 a day. Many said they were impressed by the rich variety of Chinese folk arts and cultures.

    The little cabins will reopen on Sept. 7-17 during the Paralympics.

    As the managers, dubbed "six golden flowers", hoped the China Story project could help visitors better understand China and its culture, the young women also had stories of their own to tell.

    "MOST COMPLICATED" PROJECT

    The project, sponsored by the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the Ministry of Culture, began in August 2007. The preparatory team had initially four members. Their mission was to prepare a unique show of Chinese cultures. Although each girl had working experience or educational background in the media or corporate businesses and some specialized in cultural fields, none of them had any idea of what to start with.

    The early stage was the most difficult, former Beijing Television editor Liu Yajia recalled. Liu and her colleagues did a lot of homework in the library and paid visits to nearly a hundred experts, before having a clear picture of what the show would be about: the intangible folk cultural elements in China.

    The plan set, two new members joined the team. And they began to contact local sponsors. Most local officials took the project seriously, but liaison and coordination work proved tough.

    "I made lots of phone calls and emails every day," former China Central Television (CCTV) anchoress Jia Jing said. Though things changed frequently in the preliminary stage, many local sponsors showed extraordinary understanding and cooperation. Jia felt obliged to write a message of thanks to a museum staffer in Shandong Province for their patience and tolerance. The reply she got carried a line saying "This is indeed the most complicated project I have ever dealt with in the past three decades."

    Jia would not usually conceal her emotion. Another man Jia felt sorry for was Han Meilin, an artist who worked for the BOCOG. One day, Han was ill and hospitalized. Jia said it was her fault, because she had given the artist too much to do by requesting him to write two big calligraphy works for the little cabins the day before. Jia's eyes suddenly filled with tears when recounting the story. "He was always supportive to the project and very kind to us," she said.

    UNCERTAINTIES AFTER LHASA UNREST, MAY EARTHQUAKE

    The March 14 riot in Lhasa put a brake to the work on the Tibet cabin. Yuan Yuan, the youngest among the six, was worried. She called the official in Tibet a number of times a day. The yellow light finally turned green again when she got a reply saying "We would definitely continue with the show and do it even better."

    Former university teacher Hu Qiong called officials in Sichuan soon after the magnitude 8.0 earthquake jolted the province on May 12. She was careful not to talk about business first, but asked about the damages. The voice on the other end, however, finally expressed the intention of dropout, because all time and energy were devoted to rescue and relief work.

    "My heart sank deep on hearing this," Hu Qiong said. She discussed it with her superiors. They agreed that the show just couldn't do without Sichuan. Hu and her colleagues set out to search for and collect exhibits for the Sichuan cabin on their own. The focus was on the Qiang ethnic group culture, which suffered the heaviest loss in the quake.

    Their efforts touched the hearts of local people. Panzhihua City sent them a big dark ink stone specially prepared for display. Qiang folk artists from the quake epicenter also came to Beijing to demonstrate their arts and skills.

    "FOREWOMAN", "GENERAL" AND MOTHER

    Middle-schooler-like Jia saw to the project's engineering work. "Prior to this, my knowledge of construction was no more than the interior decoration of an apartment," she said. Nevertheless, Jia met the challenge head-on.

    The soft lawn soil in the Olympic Green posed difficulty for the construction of cabins. Jia sought abundant consultations of research institutions and construction companies. The problem was solved in the end. In supervising the construction work, Jia won herself the nickname "baogongtou", or forewoman.

    The team was also known as the "6+1 combination" as the six women also had a superior, or, as Wang Pingju described himself, an instructor. "I told the girls what and how to do and gave them a free hand to carry out the task." Wang said he was careful in building up the team, because he believed teamwork was pivotal in any successful endeavor. Wang also led a team in the BOCOG collecting songs for the Olympics. Coincidentally, all members of his song team were men. He admitted that he dealt with the two teams somewhat differently. "Girls need more encouragement and praises."

    The six women did more than for the little cabins, such as the 100-day Olympic Countdown ceremony among others.

    Liu Yajia, who spoke with the posture and resounding voice of a storyteller, was entrusted to handle the Olympic Village entry and flag raising ceremonies in late July and early August. She spent four days helping make disc copies of more than 200 anthems of participating countries and regions. The heavy workload made her feel like "about to explode". Her handset rang so frequently that the audio technician finally asked if she could turn it off.

    Although the last to come, Li Hongyan joined the BOCOG earlier than all others in the group. She actually sketched the framework plan that later developed into the China Story, before the team was set up. Li landed onto the project as chief coordinator. Li was praised by her colleagues as having the demeanor of a general, cool-minded, calm, and having a good overall perspective. Li said she was surprised to hear on the phone the crisp voice of her 16-month-old son. He was staying with her parents. "Babies at this age change constantly and quickly. I wish I had more time to spend with my son and witness the changes," Li said.    

    PERSONAL GAINS

    For the "golden flowers", working for the Olympics is a lifetime experience.

    "Directly involved, I have a different feeling from when I reported the event as a stander-by. I realized what it truly meant to make contribution to the Olympics. Every block of stone or piece of grass here contains the sweat of people. My life will be different. I used to be a woman without a clear goal. Now I know what to do in the rest of my life," Jia said.

    Gao Lingna had not a single day off for the past two months. She said she did it willingly, without any complaints. "It's different from when I was in the foreign-funded company. I would argue about extra work time then." Gao said she was never so unselfish in her life. "I'm proud to be really making contribution to the country," she said.

    Although closely involved in the Olympics, Yuan Yuan said the games seemed remote to her. "I have no time to follow the events I like. I'll probably watch the videos later on to make up for the loss, " She said.

    Yuan Yuan completed a British bachelor's program before she joined the China Story team. She said she might go back to Britain to continue the study. "I'll stick to the media field. I hope I can help foreigners understand better Chinese cultures, which I now realize are so richly colorful," Yuan said.