A 2012 Games/South West England delegation has been in 2008 Games host city Beijing to launch the region as 'The Sporting Ideal'. The team showcased South West England for its great opportunities to host world-class events and provide a base for international athletes ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. 
 
Led by Guy Lavender, South West England director for the 2012 Games, the delegation attended the SportAccord 2007 conference, which brought together more than 1,200 key decision makers from competing Olympic nations and prominent people involved in global sport.  
 
Guy was accompanied by Tim Stubbings, South West of England Regional Development Agency's corporate marketing manager, Phil de Glanville, Sport England South West's head of delivery and Deborah Bertram, executive coordinator for the South West England Directorate for the 2012 Games. 
 
Here is their Beijing blog... if you have any comments you wish to feed back on the blog, please e-mail Paul Norris, South West England Marketing and Communications Adviser for the 2012 Games.

Friday April 27 
 
An absolutely fascinating day! 
 
All day was spent touring the 2008 venues, and what an impressive sight - and sites - they make. Our breath was taken away with their design, scale and architecture. The main stadium, known as the Birds Nest for its look, is truly spectacular and absolutely staggering. 
 
We started at Beijing's Urban Planning Museum, where all the venues are set out in a huge model and that in itself was very impressive. Lots of 3D imagery and use of satellite photos to give you a scale of how big the event will be. 
More than 70% of the venues are new and the designs are very good indeed - go to www.beijing2008.com for a look. 
 
 
Apart from the main stadium, the aquatics centre is amazing and reminds you of the Eden Project with its pattern and design, other than the fact that it is square. Truly breath-taking. 
 
 
 
Seeing the venues has brought it home how important the Games will be in changing the perception of a country and it certainly has with us in China. Meeting the Chinese has also allowed us to see how vibrant they are, whilst also being very hospitable and amusing. 
 
Tomorrow, we are off to the sailing venue of Qingdao, but the final impressions of Beijing from this week is a place which will host a great Games and the investment has been made for many years to come.

Thursday April 26 
 
Final day of the formal conference, which overall has proved impressive, very encouraging and given us many opportunities. More networking and meetings with delegates and international federations. Today we met up with people from the equestrian, cycling and climbing worlds, and also the coastal rowing representatives. Obviously, an interesting one for us, given South West England's location. The conference has really been enlightening for us and we have formed excellent links with international committees, which will stand us in good stead for the future. 
 
In the evening it was off to the British ambassador's reception. Very good discussions with the UK Trade and Investment people, and our fellow RDAs, on how important sport can be in helping tourism and inward investment to the UK and our individual regions. Key areas for our legacy strategy. This was backed up with further chats with the Sydney 2000 Games delegates and those running the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, who both highlighted the importance of starting work early to take opportunities and not to leave it too late - a fine line for us to think about! 
 
The day was wound up with the unveiling of the 2008 Olympic Torch route, which will be the longest ever, given China's size but also its international trail. It is coming to London on April 6 next year.

Wednesday April 25 
 
After a very enjoyable and spectacular opening ceremony last night, it was down to the conference proper today with the first formal sessions. An address by the Beijing 2008 executive vice president gave us a real sense of the scale and programme which the city has in place - it will be a very successful and impressive Games. 
 
Next up was our own Lord Coe, who focused heavily on London 2012 being an inspiration for young people to take up sport in an era when there are so many other activities vying for their time. He told the audience he believed new media, blogs etc, the example of sporting champions and a virtual Olympic Games was the way to encourage our youth. "Creating an anytime, anywhere, Olympics" was how Seb put it in what was a far-reaching speech. 
 
On our stand - which could not have been positioned better in the UK area and is right outside the main entrance to the conference hall - we continued to meet delegates and continue to push our South West England message. Highlights were meetings with the International Sailing Federation, the surf life saving delegation again and all the different representatives from world sport. On a personal level, discussions with Mike Lee, who was a major figure in bringing the Games to London, and British Olympic Association member at the IOC Sir Craig Reedie were very useful. 
 
The meetings have given us a very positive outlook and an impetus to take forward our own message and to see that we have moved ahead with 2012 preparations, perhaps more than other UK regions. On a national level, delegates from around the world have been impressed with the UK effort and the organisations and companies represented, which are all working towards a 2012 legacy. 
 
We were also honoured to receive a visit from HRH Prince Feisal of Jordan, who launched his Peace Through Sport initiative on the UK stand. He explained the aims of the programme to use sport to break down barriers between the young, especially in the Middle East. His Royal Highness, as an army man, also had a moment to discuss military matters with former paratrooper, Lt Col Guy Lavender (rtrd). 
 
Further impressions from Beijing leave you in no doubt how much has been invested in the Games - the scale is really immense and it should be a superb event next year. 
 
On a lighter note, we have secured an invite to the (British) ambassador's reception tomorrow and our Sport England colleague, and former England rugby captain, Phil de Glanville continues to dread any moves towards a Beijing karaoke club!

Tuesday April 24 2007 
 
Spent most of the morning ensuring our stand had enough Team South West and South West England branding on it and spoke to as many people as possible to 'sell' our region. Lots of discussion on our hopes for hosting pre-2012 training camps and how business can use the Games to their benefit. 
 
Had good discussions with a variety of delegations, including the International Life Saving Federation - we want to hold the ILSF 2010 World Championships in the region - representatives from archery and the Sydney 2000 team. We also talked to VisitBritain, as managing tourism growth is key for the region during the 2012 period. 
 
Preparations were made for our visit later this week to Qingdao - Beijing's answer to 2012's Weymouth and Portland and host of the 2008 sailing. Further talks were also had surrounding the SportAccord event and our input in the future. Yorkshire Forward, for example, has a very strong presence here and we need to see that what we do is just right - and we believe for this year it is. 
 
Further reflections after another trip to downtown Beijing - this time by an entertaining Subway ride - is that the Olympics is definitely coming, but just not yet. The city is quite prosperous we noticed. 
 
Anyway, that's it for the moment as we are in a coach off to the opening event and taking into account the time difference of eight hours, not sure if we can update again until tomorrow. 
 
Oh, and for you weather watchers out there, it's around 24 degrees celsius and similar to the Spanish climate, apparently.

Monday April 23 2007 
 
Arrived tired but happy courtesy of the World's Favourite at 9.30am and were soon struck by how Beijing 2008 is moving forward with some branding, although not a lot. Haven't seen any venues yet, but that is to come later in the week. 
 
Dumped our bags at the hotel and made our way to the SportAccord 2007 conference venue at the plush Shangri-La hotel. We have our own area on the UK stand and were soon immersed in conversation with colleagues from other RDAs, including EEDA, EMDA and SEEDA, as well as some cities, including Birmingham. This proved very useful and reinforced our approach at the conference to work with each other. In the afternoon, there was time for a bit of a look at an Olympic city and we were all struck by how massive, and grey, Beijing is. Tiananmen Square is incredible and the sense of history, especially seeing the Forbidden City, is fascinating. 
 
We were also treated to the Chinese way of doing things and roads were closed for us to help us get around the city more easily! However, one of the challenges for Beijing 2008 will be communication. It is so different from Europe and there will be real challenges to get a party atmosphere surrounding the Games. 
 
Tonight we had our first Chinese meal, which was excellent, and held very informative discussions with our UK partners on how we can really assess what analysis we can get from the Beijing experience to gauge how holding Games of this magnitude can help our economies. The consensus was for a national method to judge 2012 on economic terms. 
 
And then to bed.