TO WITH STORY: Oly-2008-CHN-architecture

TO WITH STORY: Oly-2008-CHN-architecture by Charles Whelan Chinese tourists view the newly built 'Centre for the Performing Arts' which was designed by French architect Paul Andreu and situated near Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 24, 2008. As the waves of tourists converge on Beijing over the next month for the Olympics, they will look up to see a stunning new skyline that China's leaders hope will showcase the nation as a modern world power. Thirty years ago the city was a poverty-stricken backwater studded by a few dull Stalinist monuments grafted onto an ancient and decaying imperial capital. The transformation has taken place at dizzying speed in the years leading up the Olympics with around 10,000 sites under construction, many of which will still be unfinished when the Games start on August 8. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)