The biggest media village in Olympic Games history officially opened in northern Beijing on Friday morning.

Zhao Jinfang, Deputy Director of Olympic village (Paralympic Village) Operation Team, hosted a brief ceremony earlier in the morning at the gate of North Star Media Village, also known as the Green Homeland, to welcome the accredited journalists who will cover the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games.

"Despite the differences of colors, languages and nationalities between us, we share the fascination and joy of the Olympic Games with each other," said Zhao, who's also supervising the North Star which together with Huiyuan compose the two residential compounds of the media village for the Beijing Games.

Media delegates from Xinhua, Beijing Olympic Broadcasting company (BOB), National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and TVB from Hong Kong, China, representing the first bunch of accredited journalists who checked in North Star on Friday morning, received a special gift, a "Golden Key" craftwork at the brief ceremony.

The Keys carry the best wishes from the media village operating team of giving best services, striking up friendships and sending good wills, according to Zhao.

"All things here are big and new. It's fantabulous!" said one of the NBC staff named Susan, whose team was given a special pass to settle Thursday in North Star before it officially opened.

The other residential part of the media village, Huiyuan, also welcomed its first guest on Friday morning as a journalist from Xinhua checked in at 8:30 local time.

As the biggest-ever residential compound hosting the media staff for Olympic Games, North Star, which is 10-15 minutes away by bus to the Main Press Center (MPC) and International Broadcast Center (IBC), covers 10.2ha. and has around 6,000 rooms in offer, while about 1,000 rooms in Huiyuan, just 500m away from the MPC and IBC, have been booked out by the accredited media.

The media village has established a whole set of living facility, such as post office, bank, supermarket, gyms, swimming pool, laundry and shuttle buses, some of which will operate round-the- clock during the Olympiad.

Both North Star and Huiyuan are operated with staff from five- star hotels and with beautiful man-made sight of lawns and streams. There's even an over 300-year-old temple dating back to the Ming Dynasty well kept in North Star.

The media compounds will become residential buildings after the Games.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2008)