Excitement, enthusiasm, and national pride are running high among local Chinese in anticipation of the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games, a survey released Monday revealed.

The survey 'Project 2008 Poll, conducted for public relations and advertising company Ogilvy in China and Milward Brown ACSR, showed that 74 percent of Chinese were "excited or very excited" about China hosting its first Olympics and a high degree of "national pride" in the games, prevails among 72 percent who said they were proud of China.

Nearly three out of four residents are excited about the Olympics. Guangzhou residents registered the most excitement at 80 percent, followed by residents in Beijing (79 percent) and Shanghai (74 percent). Liaoning, Hebei, Fujian, Hunan, and Guangxi also expressed high excitement.

We knew excitement levels were high, but this research confirms that Olympic euphoria is alive and well and rampant throughout China. While the Games will largely be held in Beijing, the Olympics is not all about Beijing, but rather the entire nation and the pride Chinese citizens have in hosting the Games,'' said Miles Young, Chairman of the Ogilvy Group in the Asia Pacific.

In terms of national pride, 72 percent of the respondents saying they are proud of China, 60 percent saying they are proud of the Chinese athletes who will participate in the Games, and 66 percent voicing their hopes for China to win the overall medal count.

When asked ''are you planning on staying in Beijing/or traveling to Beijing during the Olympic Games,'', only two percent of Beijing residents planned to leave the city during the August 8-24 games. This is lower than the games in Athens 2004 where the city suffered in terms of local attendance due primarily to fears of overcrowding and terrorist attacks in advance of the games.

Project 2008 Poll started in January and involved Chinese residents in locations along the routes of the Torch Relay, which will be held two weeks from now. Millward Brown ACSR also collected 2,687 responses from citizens aged 12-54 across 20 provinces as well as four major Chinese cities. The margin of error was three percent.