In a traditional Chinese restaurant in central Beijing, the waitresses dart around in full length silk gowns and enormous floral headdresses, carrying buckets of water and paper lanterns containing small candles.

They curtsey and greet us all in Chinese, before whipping out their handheld, electronic pads to take our orders. Later, our host and interpreter, wearing a shiny pink Bluetooth headset, laughs as she tries to translate the symbolism of each dish into something we can relate to.

And overlooking Beijing’s Olympic stadium, affectionately named the 'birds nest', I have to remind myself that China is still emerging. Everything is geared up towards the 2008 Olympics, from special lighting along the highways, to the corporate neon signs lighting up the high rise sprawl.

It is clear already that the Games are going to leave an enormous legacy and the anticipation is in the air. The preparations for Beijing 2008 are immense. Atos Origin, IT partner of the International Olympic Committee, has had a team here since 2004, working with the Beijing Organising Committee and local and international technology firms.

There will be 4000 IT experts and 21,600 media representatives involved in the event that will cover 28 sports, across 70 venues and seven cities. And when that’s all over, the systems will be modified for the Paralympics Games in September.

It was 1932 when stop watches and the human eyes proved insufficient and officials turned to newsreel film to determine that US runner Eddie Tolan was winner of the 100 meters race. Since then the Games has evolved from telex to computer punch cards, live coverage and eventually the internet.

The Beijing Games are meant to be the most-technologically enabled ever - and while I’ve only just heard of Qinhuangdao and Tianjin, I can see why Chinese cities are ready for it.

By Janie Davies