2008 Olympics / holding

Since 2001, when the Chinese capital won the rights to the this year's Games, Beijingers have been honing their English skills. At least according to the official website of the Olympic Games, 90,000 Beijing taxi drivers have gone through a special training program. The city has cleaned up its English-language signage, removing some of the more notorious clunkers -- for example, those near the Olympic stadium that directed visitors to "Racist Park," now properly referred to as the Ethnic Minorities Culture Park.