"It costs over 10,000 yuan for just one sand table simulation of my City," said Gao, who has since built seven. Money is a constant problem, he added.

In order to finance his more ambitious projects, Gao sold his car and bought a pig farm -- a business about which he admits he knows nothing.

It was worth it, he said.

"It's incredible when people tell me they would love to play sport in my City if it was real," he said.

Chinese ready to rock

Li Chunhua lost millions of dollars when a provincial real estate bubble burst in 1999 but found salvation in the latest epidemic to hit China: Olympic fever.

Like many Chinese, the coming Games gave him a chance to express his creativity in a country where daily drudgery is rife, and provided an escape from his struggles, as well as offering hope of a better tomorrow.

"My life has taken on a whole new meaning since I began my journey," the 47-year-old said, referring to his decision in 2001 to walk the breadth of China as a way of promoting the Olympic spirit.

"It made me forget all the pain. I did a lot of crazy stuff before this just to numb the feeling."

When he heard the news on July 13, 2001, that the Olympics was heading to China, Li divorced his wife, packed his belongings on a wooden trolley and set out into the wilderness.

His journey - physical and spiritual - may sound a little far-fetched but it pales in comparison to some of the zany antics being undertaken by the Chinese as they clamor to join history in the making.

When local bloggers compiled a top 10 list of people touring the nation to promote the Games, Li only ranked fifth in terms of "craziness".

"Chinese people see the Olympics as a kind of carnival to express their passion and individuality, both of which have been stifled by thousands of years of observing the rules of conformity," said Jin Yuanpu, executive director at the Humanistic Olympics Studies Center of Renmin University in Beijing.

"I don't blame them even for their weirdest celebrations."

The Beijing Games is being hailed as the biggest event to hit China since it first opened up to the outside world in 1978. Before that, 10 years of "cultural revolution" (1966-76) had effectively dampened people's spirits.

As a glance at any of Beijing's nightclubs on a Friday night attests, the Chinese love to party -- something they can now enjoy on an unprecedented scale given the liberal political climate that is sweeping the country.

Now no one wants to miss the chance to express themselves.

"China narrowly lost the bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games to Sydney in 1993," said Jin. "The public will not squander the chance to get involved in these Games as we might not get another opportunity like this in the next 100 years."

On the second year of his walking tour, Li found a partner, Chen Yueqin, to accompany him.

"Her life was bleak because one of her kidneys had failed, but my story rekindled her hope," Li said.

Then came the silver lining.

"Our journey so moved the local government that they decided to give her a free kidney transplant when they heard we were trekking through (East China's) Jiangsu Province (in 2004)."

The couple plan to conclude their 50,000 km "Olympic Long March" in June and wed on August 8, the opening day of the 2008 Games.

Time was also not an issue for 68-year-old calligrapher He Huibang. He took three years to record a brief history of the Olympics on a 2,008m-long scroll.

The authorities are also stirring up Olympic fever.

A global campaign was launched on August 8 to recruit 2,008 couples who will tie the knot at the famous Badaling section of the Great Wall on next August 8.

Furthermore, 3,491 babies born after the year 2000 have been named "Aoyun"-- Mandarin for the Olympics.

Acupuncturist Wei Shenghua, a 57-year-old practitioner of Chinese traditional medicine, said he will insert 2,008 silver needles into his head to welcome the Olympics.

The list of examples of local enthusiasm for the Games - which occasionally borders on the dark side of eccentricity -- is endless.

In contrast, the atmosphere has tended to be much quieter in the build-up to previous editions of the Games at former host cities.

Reports show that half a million residents in Sydney were preparing to flee town shortly before the 2000 Games, as did hundreds of thousands of Athenians in 2004.

For them, the price hikes triggered by the Olympic circus outweighed the sense of euphoria at the prospect of a moving diaspora of athletes, coaches, journalists, tourists and hangers-on hitting town.

The Beijing Games is expected to help iron out the kinks in what has long been considered an insular and xenophobic China, said Professor Jin.

Its arrival also coincides with the inexorable process of liberalization that has already begun in the country.

China is now playing an active role in global organizations like the UN, WTO, APEC and ASEAN.

Among the four biggest sporting events in the world, the Olympics, Formula One Grand Prix, Soccer World Cup and America's Cup (sailing), China will have hosted three by the end of next year. The America's Cup will make a stop in Qingdao in October, and China may yet put in a bid for the 2018 Soccer World Cup.

China cannot be ignored given its newfound economic might and no longer wishes to be isolated, said Jin.

"Our lives have undergone a dramatic improvement in recent years and we want the whole world to recognize the identity of 'new China'."

"Many Westerners are not able to tell the difference between a Chinese, a Korean and a Japanese. Now we invite them in to take a closer look at us," he said.

Concurrent with the preparations for the Games, Beijing has staged a series of public campaigns to improve the local environment and eradicate anti-social behavior like spitting, swearing and queue jumping.

Beijing has also edited the bad grammar, and in some cases hilarious linguistic faux pas, on 6,300 road signs in the city. Furthermore, the city government has named the 11th day of every month "queuing day" to help get people - literally - in line.

Cab drivers are also not immune to the sweeping clean-up campaign. They have been told to practice English, freshen up their vehicles and dress to impress rather than using their vehicles as motels.

In order to improve the city's air quality, Shougang Steel Group, one of the major steel producers in the country, was relocated from Beijing to its neighboring Hebei Province, and the 48-year-old Beijing Coking and Chemical Plant was closed.

It seems that, nowadays, everyone's life in the capital revolves around the Olympics.

"Hosting an unparalleled Olympic Games has been the top priority for the Beijing municipal government and, by extension, its citizens," Jin said.

A survey among Beijing citizens shows that 97 percent want to volunteer for the Games. More than 1.4 million people across the country have already applied for the 100,000 Olympic volunteer posts, meaning that more than 90 percent will be disappointed -- until they dream up their own way of celebrating.