Samsung says it will offer an 18-carat gold phone especially for the Beijing Olympics in the summer of 2008.

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True, many in Beijing, especially those whose counterparts in the capitalist world are called yuppies, affect a boredom for the games (Pan-Pan, the games' panda mascot, is irritatingly ubiquitous).

ECONOMIST: From the archive

He described the way people talk and misbehave while he plays, especially in the cities outside Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai.

NEWYORKER: The Olympian

China housing prices have soared over the last five years, especially in the eastern cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

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The women's 4x400m team also have a good chance, especially as Belarus - who beat us in Beijing - have no entry this time.

BBC: World athletics predictions

And continuing the clean-air discussion, the English edition of Global Times reports that Beijing intends to improve fuel quality, especially by reducing the sulphur content in petrol.

BBC: China morning round-up: Ping-pong diplomacy marked

Beijing's air has been a hot topic over the past month because of especially bad bouts of pollution turning the city into a gray landscape.

NPR: Leaner New Year: China Tones Down The Celebrations

Tai Shan, a holy mountain south of Beijing, is one of the country's most popular tourist sites--especially among would-be grandmothers, who trudge to the top, drape red strings over trees and then return home to wait for the grandson this ritual is supposed to guarantee.

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This is especially true in second and third tier cities, ie: not Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing.

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