Introduction

This work carried out by Luo Qing, approved and commissioned by the Olympics Studies Centre, International Olympic Committee, brings together the results of an international research project on the Beijing Olympic Games undertaken by thirteen research teams around the world (coordinated by the International Communication Studies Centre, Communication University of China, China) and co-organized by:

The China Media Observatory (CMO), University of Lugano (USI), Switzerland;

Centre d'Estudis Olimpics, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain;

Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA;

Department of Communication and Media Studies; University of Athens, Greece;

Global Key Visual Network, Jacobs University of Bremen, Germany;

Department of Communication and Media Studies, University of Athens, Greece;

Centre for Cultural Research, University of Western Sydney; Australia;

Stendhal University Grenoble, France;

Music and Scenic Arts, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil;

Department of Socio-media studies, Musashi University, Japan