The 2008 Summer Olympic will be hosted by Beijing. China is preparing for the event and has started to build a road to Everest Base Camp, for the Olympic torch relay.

Xinhua news agency reports that organizers have begun work on an existing road from the village of Tingri, through China’s Tibet region, to the 5,200-meter Base Camp on the Everest.

The new fenced road, improvement to the existing dirt one, will cost an estimated $19.7 million (150 million yuan) and will take some four months to be completed, officials said.

The new road will be the main route for the Olympic torch relay to the Everest Base Camp and will also be used by tourists visiting the mountain, according to Xinhua.

The torch to be taken up the highest mountain on Earth will be specially designed to resist at high altitudes. Everest’s highest point is at 8,844 meters.

Organizers of the 2008 Summer Olympics have expressed optimism at the outcome of the event, expecting some four billion people around the world to tune in and watch the games on television.

Earlier this month, Xinhua quoted Ma Guoli, chief operations officer of the Beijing Olympics Dissemination Corporation, as saying: “The figure will be one billion more than that of the 2004 Athens Olympics, and I believe we can achieve that goal.”

The 2008 Summer Olympics were awarded to Beijing, China in 2001. The games will be held from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008. Next year’s Olympics will include a new 10 km swimming marathon event, held in Hong Kong.