With the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Beijing Olympics around the corner, people are recalling the legacy the Olympic Games left to the city, which lies not only in the material surroundings, but also in the spiritual changes. Let's follow Liu Min to take a closer look.

Reporter:
After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, people have been enjoying an ever developing sports culture. Locals are even more delighted that the Beijing municipal government decided to open Olympic venues to the public, providing alternative gymnasiums as well as a chance to see the venues up close.

72 years old Zhang Chonglu lives near the National Aquatics Centre, also known as the Water Cube. On hearing of the opening of the Water Cube training pool, he rushed there with his grandson to intimately experience the Olympic venue first hand.

"I brought my grandson here to experience the fine building and facilities. Our athletes earned so many honors here. It's long been our hope to make this visit. How wonderful! "

His grandson, Zhang Mingyang, echoes these sentiments.

"The Olympic facilities are meant to be used for sport activities. It's nice to have people doing exercises together. The facilities must be fine since they hosted the Olympics. I'm here see it for myself."

Currently, six more Olympic venues have opened to the public. In choosing which venues to see, people tend to select the ones near home.

Li Zhaoqian is a white-collar worker who often plays volleyball with friends after work. He had this to say when visiting the volleyball venue at the Beijing Institute of Technology for the first time.

"Instead of simple flashiness, the venue is of great practical use."

Beijing made a record investment in developing the city's infrastructures before the Olympics. Half of the money was used in the construction of railways, light rails, highways and airports, contributing to the fast and convenient transportation network people enjoy today.

Bi Ziyu lives far away from her workplace. Due to the development of the subway system, her daily commuting time has been greatly reduced.

"Though the Olympics are over, our subway system is better than ever. I can take the newly built subway line 5 and 10 to work now, which reduced not only the time from home to work, but also the weariness I used to have due to the lousy traffic. It's so convenient now."

A hundred thousand volunteers impressed the world with their charming smiles and quality service during the games. Many of them chose to continue serving the city as volunteers after the Olympics. One of them is 19-year-old Ji Peng, who currently helps tourists near the Water Cube.
Ji Peng says the Olympics spread the volunteer spirit far and wide and endowed numerous young men with the sense of responsibility.

"I was once a selfish boy. But now I've learned to see things with an open mind and think rationally."

Just as Ji Peng said, the Olympics have endued us with a substantial change in people's ways of life. Sporting spirits, environmental protection awareness and the spirit of volunteering are ever highly valued in the city. Though we have long departed the Olympics, our life has been the richer for it.

For China Drive, I'm Liu Min.