The rivalry between China and Taiwan has separated families for decades, although bilateral ties have improved in recent months.
Jiang Si Zhang, a former soldier forced to fight the Chinese communists, hopes the Olympics will further heal the divide.
He shares his one in a billion hope with Al Jazeera.
Despite the recent thawing of ties between Taiwan and China, the island’s athletes are competing as Chinese Taipei, and under a flag different to the one flown back home.
Al Jazeera’s Dan Nolan reports on how politics and sports mix at the Olympics.
If you are Tibetan, the only way you can compete at the Beijing Olympics is by renouncing your Tibetan identity and registering as a Chinese athlete. Many Tibetan athletes in exile have refused to do this and are instead participating in the ‘Tibetan Olympics’ in northern India. Witness follows two participants as they prepare for and then participate in ‘The Other Olympics’.
If you are Tibetan, the only way you can compete at the Beijing Olympics is by renouncing your Tibetan identity and registering as a Chinese athlete. Many Tibetan athletes in exile have refused to do this and are instead participating in the ‘Tibetan Olympics’ in northern India. Witness follows two participants as they prepare for and then participate in ‘The Other Olympics’.
Group dancing is a popular form of exercise and provides a social outlet for many elderly in China, and summer is a time many Beijingers bring out their dancing shoes.
While youths hit the city’s hot new clubs, droves of retirees and middle-aged office workers turn to mass dancing venues for exercise and companionship.
Al Jazeera met a retiree who shared her one-in-a-billion love for dancing.