Shanghai Daily's Olympics reporter Ma Yue has finished her unforgetable stint in Beijing and is flying back to Shanghai today. Before she joined the swarm of travelers at Beijing International Airport today, she sent us some of the quotes that took her fancy during the 16 days. This is how the athletes saw the Games.

Athletics

"I am 67 years old now. I have trained a lot of athletes for our country. Some of the athletes could not even run at first. It was I who taught them to run and finally, to fly."
- Coach Raul Barreda (MEX) takes credit for his athletes' success.

"As athletes, we have ups and downs. Unfortunately, you can't pick the days they come on."

- Deena Kastor (USA) after pulling out of the women's marathon with a foot injury.

"I can't wait to get to the medal stand tomorrow. Oh, that reminds me. I've got some laundry to do so I have something clean to wear on the medal stand."
- Men's 1,500m bronze medalist Nicholas Willis (NZL) keeps his feet firmly on the ground shortly after becoming New Zealand's first medalist in the event since John Walker won gold at Montreal 32 years ago.

"Tourism is the biggest industry on the island, and you can't pay for this kind of advertising."
- Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games 100m gold medalist Donovan Bailey (CAN) on the impact sprinter Usain Bolt (JAM) will have on the Carbbean nation.

"I wanted to win so badly I had to stop myself from running."
- Gold medalist Alex Schwazer (ITA) on the men's 50km walk.

Badminton

"They probably looked at the draw and said 'shit', well, maybe 'shit' in Chinese."
- Gail Emms (GBR) on how Zheng Bo (CHN) and Gao Ling (CHN) would have reacted to their mixed doubles draw.

Basketball

"Do you know motion offense? Motion, motion, motion. My team is very small in size - but has motion, motion, motion."
- South Korea coach Jung Duk Hwa explains his tactics against the taller, bigger Russians.

"A nine-in-the-morning game is unusual for us. Fortunately, we woke up first. At half time, we decided to go to sleep. And Iran woke up."
- David Michael Blatt (ISR), coach of the Russian men's basketball team.

"We pretend it is our crowd and they are cheering for us."
- New Zealand women's basketball coach Mike McHugh (NZL) on whether the fans will be a factor in their August 13 match against China.

Beach Volleyball

"Now we start from scratch, killing one lion a day."
- Renata Ribeiro (BRA) on reaching the round of 16.

Boxing

"It's like a vicious cycle. They want the athlete to produce. If they don't produce they won't get money and without money we cannot produce. It's like the chicken and the egg."
- Canadian coach Charlie Stewart on the difficulties boxing is facing in Canada.

Cycling

"I liken it to a NASCAR race. We turn left for a living."
- Michael Blatchford (USA) trying to explain his sport to non-cycling fans.

Diving

"Making the finals in three events has shown that Colombia has potential. We have a great team but we also need an indoor pool to be able to train more."
- Juan guillermo Uran (COL) bemoans his local training facilities, after leaving the men's 10m plaform semifinal.

Equestrian

"I am not satisfied. I find the horse a bit tense and he finds every flower-pot terrifying."
- Daisy Dick (GBR) on her dressage performance.

Fencing

"He's a gangster. It was a street combat."
- Fabrice Jeannet (FRA) on his tough men's individual epee round of 64 bout against Sergey Katchurin.

"It was tough not having my coach here. Kothny is a sabre fencer and I'm a foil fencer, so he couldn't give me any advice at all."
- Nontapat Panchan (THA) on having teammate Wiradech Kothny instead of his coach on the sidelines.

"We are usually the underdogs and sometimes the big guys fall asleep on us."
- Erinn Smart (USA) after USA's 31-30 victory over Poland in the women's team foil quarterfinals.

Football

"Usually I play Playstation with my roommate Sergio Aguero (ARG). If (tennis players) David Nalbandian (ARG) and Juan Monaco (ARG) want to play football against us we will give them a chance."
- Messi (ARG) on how he relaxes in the Athlete's Village.

Handball

"Someone had to take the ugly shirt. Today it was me."
- Danish centerback Joachim Rietveld Boldsen on having to play in the goal.

Hockey

"The rains complicated things a little bit for us, but this doesn't change anything. If it rains again, we will just get wet."
- Argentina coach Gabriel Minadeo on the rain during the women's hockey preliminary 2-2 draw with USA.

Judo

"My parents never pushed me into it, so I won't push him. But he is on his way - he's already kicking."
- Brian Olson (USA) on the chances of his unborn son becoming a judoka.

"She was doing a lot of false attacks, and I was wondering what she was doing."
- Urszula Sadkowska (POL) after a loss to Gulzhan Issanova (KAZ) in a 78kg women's judo preliminary.

Rowing

"I was sitting on a bus with Steven Waugh (former Australian cricket captain) and he said when he walked out he felt proud with 10 other guys behind him, but it's going to be unbelievable when you have 430 behind you."
- James Tomkins (AUS) on being his nation's flag bearer.

Shooting

"I'm still getting to my prime, I'm just maturing with age, you know, like good wine."
- Warren Potent (AUS) after winning bronze in the men's 50m rifle prone at 46.

Swimming

"Are you talking to me (pointing at his face)? Do you read an expression of disappointment? Come on, I'm vice-Olympic champion."
- Frederick Bousquet (FRA) is more than happy with silver in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.

"Male bees live for one moment, then they die. For us swimmers this moment comes only once every four years."
- Markus Rogan (AUS) on the importance of his upcoming races in the men's 200m backstroke.

"He is just a normal person, although he may be from a different planet. A planet from a different galaxy."
- Alexander Sukhorukov (RUS) on Michael Phelps (USA).

"Now I can put all my energy into it, fighting this battle (with cancer). I'm going to attack it the same way I did swimming, and I'm going to get it the hell out of me."
- Eric Shanteau (USA) on his decision to swim despite being diagnosed with cancer.

"If I went any faster I probably would have to get drug tested."
- Aaron Peirsol (USA) on his 200m men's backstroke semifinal swim.

"It's not bad luck to swim with him. It's a privilege. I'm part of history."
- Thiago Pereira (BRA) on competing with Phelps.

"Maybe I shouldn't have filed my nails last night."
- Dara Torres (USA) after Britta Steffen (GER) beat her by 0.01 second for the gold medal in the women's 50m freestyle.

"He's a ship and the rest of us are yachts, and you have to find your way around that big old vessel."
- Competitor Mark Warkentin (USA) on what sets men's 10km marathon swimming gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden (NED) apart from the rest of the pack.

Table Tennis

"I really don't like the nickname because it is easy to be fragile. Maybe 'Iron Doll' is more suitable for me."
- Ai Fukuhara (JPN) on her nickname "Porcelain Doll".

"I would rather play than be a coach in charge of the others. Players abroad are generally lazy, they come at 10:30 when you told them 10 and you have to come to the venue 15 minutes before everybody else and be the last one to leave."
- On why 46-year-old He Zhiwen (CHN) is playing at the Olympics rather than coaching.

Tennis

"When I knew the draw I was in Chinese Taipei. I was in the airport and I thought I should take my luggage and go home. But I'm happy to be here. I said that I'll come, I'll try my best, and maybe I can learn something from Andy. So today I'm here, and I'm happy to win."
- Lu Yun-Hsen (TPE) on his thoughts after learning of his draw against Andy Murray (GBR), speaking after beating Murray 7-6(5), 6-4 in a first-round match.

Volleyball

"The management of the team is more difficult with the two sisters, because the older sister is always trying to take responsibility for the younger. I would prefer not to have two sisters on the team."
- Algeria women's volleyball coach Mouloud Ikhedji (ALG) on player sisters Melinda and Sehryne Hennaoui (ALG).

Water Polo

"Eight newcomers is a good thing. It's their first Olympics and they are all excited, not afraid of anything. Sometimes experienced players have bad memories."
- Australian coach Greg McFadden on having eight players without Olympic experience in his women's water polo squad.

Weightlifting

"That's something I've done forever. I try to work with the bar, not against it. When you connect properly it's right and it's amazing. I try to think of the bar as my friend."
- Weightlifter Jeane Lassen (CAN) on why she kisses the bar after her lifts.

A nice trip to the Olympic Green, Beijing

People resting and picnicking in the Olympic Green

Inside Beijing's Metro Line 8, the "Olympic Special"

Metro maps with frames in the shape of Chinese ceramics

With numerous spectators and tourists from home and abroad, the upgraded Beijing Metro has done an excellent job to welcome those attending the Games and to provide a hassle-free transport option for those who come to appreciate the beauty of the ancient city.

Reception desk at BOCOG

Volunteer Gabriel Barocio

Volunteer Hu Lichen

Ever since I arrived at the Main Press Center of the Beijing Olympics, I have been curious about the Chinese Olympics committee’s office here. Finally, today I got some time to speak to office director Zhou Jing, the publicity head officer of the State General Administration of Sports before the Olympics.

Zhou told me the office opened during the Athens Games in 2004 to help reporters better understand the Beijing Games. Under the same theory, the London 2012 Olympics organizing Committee has its office in the Beijing Olympics MPC as well.

She said the office acted as a center to help the media by providing information on Chinese athletes and handling interview applications. It also distributes hot tickets to reporters and arranges press conferences for the Chinese delegation. The office is soaked in Chinese décor and the reception desk is a mini version of the Bird’s Nest.

It is the sixth day of the Beijing Olympics and everything has gone well and China’s athletes have performed exceedingly well.

As good as our athletes have done, there is another group of people worthy of praise – the Olympic volunteers in the press center. They deserve a gold medal for their efforts.

I met two MPC volunteers today, Gabriel Barocio from Mexico and Hu Lichen from China. Barocio is studying Chinese at the Beijing Language & Culture University on a two-year scholarship program. He said the number of expat volunteers for the Beijing Olympics topped 22,000. He stands in the public work area to provide general information about transport, event schedules and the names of athletes.

Since he has finished his program, he will return to Mexico after the Olympics, but he’s still considering if he should come back to China to continue his Chinese study. Two years is not enough to master the Chinese language, he said.   

Hu is a major in Italian at the Beijing Foreign Language University. She works 12 hours a day three times a week at the language service desk. The desk can provide volunteers in most languages. Hu is from Jiangsu Province and her mother came to Beijing to cook for her. Hu has been unable to see the sporting events, but she watched the opening ceremony. She told me that she was very happy now.

So far I have had limited contact with expat journalists although some have asked for information about Chinese athletes. I found some of them were keen on exchanging press badges. Surprisingly, they had badges from several Olympic Games. It seems every news organization has their own badge for the Beijing Olympics. The first batch of badges for our group, Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group, had some mistakes, which made them more valuable in the eyes of overseas journalists. An expat journalist traded some older badges for our “wrong badges.”

Surfing on the Internet is one of the major recreations for me here. I read on some BBS forums that many people were not satisfied with BOB, which broadcasted the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony to China. People were worried that expats would not understand what director Zhang Yimou wanted to express with all the close-up shots.

However, a British diving coach I met told me he understood most of it even though he did not know the famous “four treasures” of Chinese invention. He added, “I have watched Zhang’s movies, but I think the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was better than his films. It’s an amazing culture since so many people gathered together.”

The Games have started in more places than just the various venues around town. The Media Press Center is a hive of activity now as frantic reporters and photographers are running around frequently to get their stories and photos out to an expectant public.

Food prices in the MPC have been cut at least 50 percent, which put a smile back on my face. I treated myself to sliced Peking duck wrapped in a thin flour patty yesterday. It was only 15 yuan for 3 pieces and it tasted alright.

The two TV sets in the Wenxin working space are fixed at different channels and it’s just not enough to catch all the action. Chinese athletes can be seen in so many sports that journalists are having a hard time giving them the coverage they deserve.

It's Sunday, so I decided to take a half-day break and meet my former roommate, who now works in Beijing, from college for lunch. There was a long queue of vehicles on the road in front of the restaurant as we went out – traffic was held for a while to make way for the women’s road race in cycling.

The Olympics have inevitably disturbed the life of residents around the city. However, few complaints have been voiced as most residents feel proud to live in the host city. Taxi drivers seem especially proud.

Most are also more than willing to chat with customers. Different from in Shanghai, Beijing people prefer bills to coins for some reason. "Do you mind if I give you coins?" I asked one taxi driver. "No, no problem at all," he replied quickly. "Welcome to Beijing, keep it in mind!"

"What I'm worried about is that journalists will write too much about the not-very-blue sky in Beijing." That's what I heard from one of the volunteers working in the MPC massage center. The 20-square-meter massage room has become one of the most popular places in the MPC as it’s fully booked for the next two days.

The masseuses said it’s quite funny how popular they’ve become.

"Some newly arrived journalists don’t know about the reservation procedure and begged us for a massage if they see an empty seat. Some bribe us with souvenirs while a few men even begged us in sissy voices,” one masseuse said with a smile. "We do our best to please our customers even though we're tired ourselves."

To have such a sense of responsibility well ingrained in the minds of so many regular people, that’s impressive. It’s what has impressed me a lot here.

China added four more golds today and more glory is on the way. These will be memorable moments for so many families. Let's work hard and keep counting the gold medals for China.

These are the faces of former superstars for team China who have moved on to take coaching positions in other countries. These faces include Lang Ping, who coaches the women's US volleyball team, Liu Guodong of Singapore's table tennis team and Li Mao, the coach of South Korea's badminton team. Li may be remembered for his quarrel with Chinese coach Li Yongbo during the South Korean Open earlier this year.

There are also faces hidden from the spotlight as they are not top-ranked players or they are on teams not expected to be in medal contention.

However, each player has a story. I met three of them today -- two from the US table tennis team and another from the US badminton team -- in the Media Press Center.

Smiling Gao

Thirty nine-year-old Gao Jun, a native of Baoding, Hebei Province, started playing table tennis at the age of 5 in Beijing. She retired from table tennis shortly after getting married in 1993, one year after she brought back a silver medal for China in the doubles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics (her best achievement in Olympics).

In 1997, she was coaxed into joining the United States' national team but only played part-time. It was only after her divorce in 2002 that she decided to take up the sport again.

Gao has been training in Shanghai since 2002 because training in the US would not help her reach the level she needs to be at to compete in the Olympics.

"Table tennis is the sport of China," Gao said. "There is less pressure playing for the US and that's why I decided to pick up the sport again here (US) after marriage."

"In China, we used to train so hard. The country provided almost everything we needed, which made one feel like you have to win. But in the US, athletes just play for fun."

Gao emphasized that the support from the goverment is important but that along with that support comes the pressure of expectations.
 
"Maybe I will compete in the next Olympics," Gao said with a smile.

Cool Crystal

Crystal Huang, or Yao Xi -- her former Chinese name -- was born in Changsha, Henan Province. She joined the US table tennis team after her family immigrated. It's the 29-year-old's first Olympic Games. She also is a coach at a Los Angeles table tennis club.

"US players play for interest. They come to the Olympics only when they're willing to, nobody pushes, not like in China," Huang said, recalling the difficult training she endured in her early years in China.

"I know some of my Chinese counterparts' weaknesses, but I can't do it -- there's not enough training time," she said. She didn't train for five years after arriving in the US and only trains for four hours a week in the past two years since joining the Los Angeles club.

"China will be dorminant for another five or 10 years," she said,"They've got the kind of training section that no other country can ever compete with. So many people are playing table tennnis in this country, the country with the most people in the world."

She says she no longer worries too much about her table tennis career. She's more interested in other aspects of life.

Child Lee

Eva Lee wrote her Chinese name for me, Li Yiheng, and it's almost like the handwriting of a primary school student.

The Hong Kong based girl turns 22 today. She immigrated with her family to California, US, at the age of 5. She is majoring in pyschology at the University of California.

She will compete in the women's singles and doubles in badminton for the United States.

"It's my first Olympics. And I hope we can get a medal back home from the four events we take part in," Lee said.

Talking about their preparation, Lee said they just got together recently for six hours of training, four days a week.

"Training is diffidult in the US as I have to go to school. And I never bother being as professional as the Chinese players."

"I play just because I really enjoy it. It's a hobby even though I still want to do well," Lee says.

Lee wants to graduate from university first with a master's degree and then plans to become a doctor.

Good luck to the girl with a sweet voice.

After finishing these interviews, I wondered, are we taking sports too seriously in China?

It's only after great focus and effort on certain sports (ie table tennis and diving) that China has become dominant. And once China has become dominant in one of these sports, it's easier to attract top class athletes to continue that dominance.

Good luck to all the athletes, no matter which country you are competing for.
 

Olympic volunteers offer free massages to reporters in the Main Press Center (MPC) from 2pm to 4pm each day.

The working area of the MPC. Nearly 60 percent of the reporters from news agencies from around the world have arrived at the work center and soon the center will be full of reporters.

Reporters from Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group, the parent group of Shanghai Daily, plunge into their coverage of the Olympics at their office on the second floor of the MPC.

The exterior of the Main Press Center in Beijing.

A South Korean girl and a woman stand in front of one of the "family siheyuan hotels" that have been selected to accommodate overseas Olympics spectators.

Greg Irwin, a US citizen, manipulates small metal "health balls" balls with his fingers and palm. He stands in front of Beijing's landmark Drum Tower.

I met an expat who really knows how to play ball, and a typical cabbie with the gift of gab.

I had planned my day to center on a visit to the "family siheyuan hotels" (奥运人家) that have been selected to accommodate overseas Olympics spectators. I arrived at one such “hotel” hidden in a typical hutong at about 2pm. However, the only overseas guests, a family from South Korea, were tired of talking with journalists and began to brush aside questions.

After I wrapped up my interview, mainly with the home owner, I wandered in the hutong and ran into an unusual expat – an American his 40s, manipulating small health metal balls effortlessly with his fingers and palms. Even more surprising, shortly after we began chatting, he switched to Mandarin Chinese, very fluent and punctuated with authentic Beijing slang.

Greg Irwin, a US citizen, has been spending around a fifth of his time working in China since 1997. He first arrived in China as a coordinator of a commercial promoting Chinese metal health balls. He fell in love with Chinese culture and took up the "sport of Chinese balls" as a hobby.

I strolled with Irwin, now working on artist relations for a music company, to a square in front of the landmark Drum Tower. He performed three sets of his skills.

Asked about the Beijing Olympics, he was as excited as any Beijinger. He said he couldn’t get tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, but would attend some basketball games. Yao Ming is his favorite player. "His defensive moves are very cool," said Irwin.

After saying good-bye to Irwin, I hailed to return to my hotel. The cabbie, Mr Su, was a typical Beijing taxi driver, and typical of his type around the world. He loved to talk. He said his business was better thanks to the Olympics. "My average daily income is 600 yuan to 700 yuan (US$88-102). Now I can get four to five more rides a day," he said.

As a registered Olympics reporter, I rode on an official media shuttle bus yesterday on the Olympics express lane and saw long, long lines of cars hopelessly backed up on ordinary lanes. But Su said the special express lanes would not cause much trouble because the even-odd car control policy has reduced the number of cars on the road.

The weather and air quality today is as good as it was yesterday, 32 to 33 degrees Celsius and not very humid. The wind wasn’t a problem – I was used to being buffeted in Shanghai by remnants of typhoon Fung Wong.

But it seems my eating schedule is already off track. After I finished breakfast at my hotel at 10am, I didn’t eat anything but an apple until 10pm. I don’t feel hungry at all – it must be the excitement. I should eat regularly, otherwise my stomach will become another enemy, along with deadlines.

My day ended with a night tour at – but not inside -- the National Stadium, the Bird’s Nest, where a dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony was underway. Several thousands of people went there but all of us were stopped around 300 meters from the entrance. Not many people were upset as we could still enjoy the fireworks periodically launched into the velvet sky to accompany the performance inside.