On August 8, 2008, the 29th Olympic Games opened its curtain in Beijing. Within 16 days, athletes from 204 countries and regions gathered in China to demonstrate their superb athletic ability as billions of people worldwide indulged themselves in the celebration of international sportsmanship and friendship.

As the excitement finally died down at the Bird's Nest stadium, China received rave reviews from the international community for having staged one of the most successful Olympic Games in history. Speaking at the closing ceremony, IOC President Jacques Rogge says:

For the Chinese people, the 16 days of the Beijing Olympic Games were some of the most memorable moments in Chinese history. He Zhenliang, honorary president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, says that the 16 days realized a long cherished dream of the Chinese people.

"Holding the Olympic Games used to be a strong wish of the Chinese people, but it required great economic power to host such a grand international event. A few decades ago, when China was not as economically strong as today, the desire to host the Olympics was just a pipe dream and was not realistic."

As He Zhenliang says, a strong economy is the basis for any nation to hold an Olympic Games. To prepare for the Beijing Olympics, China poured 310 billion yuan, or some 45 billion US dollars, to upgrade infrastructure and construct Olympic venues. Six decades ago, it would have been completely impossible for China to allocate such a huge amount of money for such an event.

In 1949, when the People's Republic of China was founded, the Chinese economy was on the verge of collapse as the result of long-time war. The per capita GDP was only 50 US dollars.

In the 1950s and 60s, China carried out many large-scale heavy-industry infrastructure construction projects, which laid a sound foundation for the economic growth of New China. But due to a low level of productivity in agriculture and light industry, the market supply of consumer goods was far from enough to meet the needs of the Chinese people. So the government had to issue ration coupons to balance supply and demand, and curb the shortages of food, clothing and other daily necessities.

Former Palestinian ambassador to China, Moustapha Saphariny, came to China for the first time in 1968. He recalled life in the country at that time.

"When I first came to China, I was not accustomed to the winter here because it was bitterly cold. Today we can buy all kinds of warm winter clothes to keep the coldness away; but back in the 1960s and 70s, people in China had to use ration coupons to buy clothes. And in fact, they had to buy most of their every day goods with those coupons."

Following the reform and opening up drive in the late 1970s, China achieved fast economic and social development. The market flourished, with an increasing quantity and diversity of commodities. With the abundant supply of goods, people could buy whatever they needed with ease and convenience. Gradually, the ration coupons became worthless and dropped out of use.

During his many years living in China Moustapha Saphariny witnessed the tremendous changes that the Chinese people have experienced.