Beijing hopes to turn media village a fun place for journalists

by Chang Ailing BEIJING, July 25 (Xinhua) -- When technician Mobuyuki Oguma with Kyodo News Service arrived at the lobby of the Olympic media village, he was greeted by a line of smiling volunteers. Ten minutes later, he was shown into his apartment to find a number of gifts ranging from shampoo to a toy panda. Oguma was among the dozens of media staff who checked in on Friday when the Beijing Olympic media village, the largest one ever in the Olympic history, opened on Friday. "Transportation here must be very convenient, as the village is very close to the Main Press Center (MPC)," said Oguma, whose apartment in Huiyuan is two kilometers away form the MPC and IBC. The other media village, the North Star, is 10 minutes away by bus. The two residential compounds jointly offer about 7,000 rooms to accredited media. As... [read full story]