BEIJING, Nov 5: China is taking no chances as host of the summer Olympics in 2008 and has picked an auspicious 8:00 p.m. start on Aug 8, 2008 - or 8/8/8/08 - for the opening ceremony.

Eight is a lucky number in China, because it sounds like the word for good fortune, but Beijing's sweltering summer could put that luck to the test for Olympic athletes. "It is still pretty hot in Beijing in early August," Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan conceded when announcing the starting date, the Beijing News said on Friday.

"The opening ceremony was originally going to be held late in the month, but because of vacation times in the United States and Europe and because the schedules of the U.S. Open tennis tournament and baseball play-offs cannot be changed, the date of the start of the Beijing Olympics was set for early August."

Temperatures in Beijing can soar above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in August. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had turned down China's application to make wushu, a Chinese no-contact martial art, a medal sport in 2008, the newspaper quoted Wang as saying. -Reuters