The Jiang family's 70-year Olympic bondage

This year's Olympic Games is being held for the first time on Chinese soil.

But for one family in Shanghai, their link with the games goes back more than 70 years.

For 50-year-old Jiang Shi-wei, the Beijing Olympic Games carries special meaning - his family has a 76-year-old Olympic legacy.

Jiang, a businessman, said: "It was 1932 when China first participated in the modern Olympic Games. Back then, there was only one athlete, Liu Chang Chun, who competed at the games.

"The leader of the team was my father's uncle, Shen Si Liang. When it came to the 1984 Olympics, my father was a journalist with the China Daily and he reported on the games."

For the past 20 years, Jiang has been collecting Olympic memorabilia from all over the world. He owns the first article written about the Olympics in 1896 by Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the International Olympic Committee.

Most of the medals he owns have been in his family for years. The rest of the collection was obtained by exchanging Olympic items with other enthusiasts in the US. And he has been invited numerous times to show his collection to the public.

But 2008 has a special meaning for him - not just because China is hosting the games, but - because it means fulfilling the four dreams of his granduncle.

Jiang said: "The first dream is that China would compete in the Olympics, which he himself fulfilled in 1932. He also realised his second dream, which was to lead a dozen athletes to compete at the 1936 Games.

"The third dream was witnessed by my father who saw the Chinese athletes win our first medal. My granduncle's last dream is that China could one day host the Olympic Games."

With China winning 32 golds at the last Olympic Games, hopes are high that the Chinese will manage a bigger haul of the medals, given home advantage and heavy investment in training.

With 639 athletes, this is the largest contingent China has fielded so far for the Olympics.