Mao Zedong may not have lived to see the Olympics in Beijing, but officials in his home province of Hunan say that he would have been proud of the tenacity and daring involved in preparing the country to host the 2008 Summer Games.

"Mao laid a solid foundation for New China, for Deng Xiaoping's opening up and reforms, and eventually for the successful opening of the Beijing Olympics," says Jiang Jianguo, a top official from the Hunan provincial government.

"It is the daring and initiative-taking spirit of such Hunan-born dignitaries as Mao that has constantly encouraged and inspired local people to achieve exciting goals."