With the Olympic Games just around the corner, the main stadium of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has played host to two very important people from Asia and Europe.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown took a good long look at Beijing's National Stadium on their first China visit after assuming premiership.

After visiting the "Bird's Nest" on January 13, Singh said the infrastructure and other work Beijing has done to get ready for the Olympics merit attention from the Indian people in preparing for big events like the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Accompanied by his wife Sarah and well-known British athlete Kelly Holmes, who won gold medals in the 800m and 1500m competitions at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, Brown toured the "Bird's Nest" five days later. As head of government of the host country of the next Olympic Games, Brown praised China for its contribution to the Olympic Movement and said his country, encouraged by China, will offer a wonderful Olympics in 2012.

"2008 is a year of inspiration for the Chinese people," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao recently.

His remarks were based on several facts: this year China will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the reform and open-up policy; the 29th Olympiad will take place in August ... Truly, in 2008, China will attract the most extensive attention the world has seen in the past 30 years or even half a century.

It is reported that many heads of state, governments, or members of royal families, have expressed their wishes to attend the Beijing Olympics. There may be some 500,000 to 550,000 foreigners in Beijing during the Games. As such, 2008 is a very busy year for Chinese diplomats.