Jonathan Chuck is going to the Beijing Olympics this summer. Whether he sees any of the events is another matter.

The 2005 Punahou School graduate is one of the Hawai'i residents who'll be working at the Games — as trainers, interpreters or in other roles.

Chuck will be an assistant project manager for Jet Set Sports, the official hospitality company for the Olympics.

He recently toured the Bird's Nest — the stadium built to house the opening and closing ceremonies — and figures that may be as close as he gets to the Olympic action.

"I don't know if I'll see one event," Chuck, a senior-to-be at George Washington University, said during a telephone interview. "I'll be working 15 hours a day or more making sure the sponsors and CEOs are taken care of. For me, it's just great exposure."

Others from O'ahu heading to Beijing to work include interpreter Dr. Hin Liu, and Lisa Martin and Brandon Moriki, trainers at 24 Hour Fitness on Kapi'olani Boulevard and in Kane'ohe.

Martin and Moriki were among 21 trainers chosen from 24 Hour Fitness clubs across the country after clients wrote essays on how their trainers affected their lives. They will have a chance to work with Olympic athletes and coaches and learn their training techniques.

They will also help manage an on-site facility where U.S. athletes can work out and train for their events.

"We're not taking the place of any coaches or anything like that," Martin said. "Our job is to ensure the trainers, coaches and athletes have everything at their disposal. We'll do whatever we can to help them. It's just a tremendous opportunity for us. I really feel fortunate."

Moriki may pull additional duties because he's fluent in Chinese, said Kalani Pa, fitness manager at Moriki's club.

"Brandon speaks Chinese and understands the Chinese culture, so he may also be used as a liaison between the trainers and the athletes and coaches," Pa said. "He's an amazing guy. He has four degrees and got his master's in sociology this year."

Liu will be a Mandarin-English translator for athletes and officials. For her, the games are a homecoming — she was raised in Beijing but has lived in Hawai'i since 1984.

"This is definitely one of the highlights of my career," Liu said. "But I treat my clients all the same no matter what. I was hired to be a professional interpreter and my goal is to translate accurately for my clients."

Kevin Chang, a former Honolulu Advertiser employee and Punahou graduate who is with the National Football League's international media department, said he's been traveling frequently between New York and China over the past two years and he's seen "huge changes."

"There are more skyscrapers and new development then you can imagine," Chang said from his home in New York. "The many finished buildings are modern architectural feats and they've often invited the world's best to come and design them. There is new infrastructure from subway lines to an airport that dwarfs JFK in size and technology. Beyond that, I'm starting to see changes in the service industry as they get ready to welcome the many visitors. ... Last Sunday was the clearest day in Beijing that I've ever seen."

Chang will be moving to Beijing in July for his NFL duties. Chang said there was discussion with the Olympic committee to have the New England Patriots cheerleaders help with cheerleading at the Olympics, but that has since fallen through.

Chuck's mother, Yen Chun, is finding that even with her son working at the Olympics, tickets are hard to get. Chun said she spent 20 hours at her computer the day tickets were released.

"I got in once, but the online traffic was so heavy it crashed my computer at the payment option and I had to start over again."

By the time Chun finally got through, she was able to purchase 56 tickets ranging in price from $8 to $83. She and her husband have rented an apartment in Beijing for August so they can attend volleyball, baseball, swimming, wrestling and track and field events.

A relative of Sun Yat-sen, who led a revolution against imperial rule and is considered the father of modern China, Chun was born in Beijing but raised mostly in Hawai'i. She's a business consultant providing a link between Hawai'i and China, and has made several trips to Beijing in recent years.

This one, she said, is for pure pleasure.

"It is a once-in-a-lifetime event for me," she said. "I'm very closely tied to these games. It's major excitement. China is going to put on it's best and show the world what it has to offer."

For folks with work lined up, or those just looking for some fun, the Beijing Olympics is a great time to come. But Johnson Choi, president of the Hong Kong-China Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, warned that it will not be a good time to do business.

"All of Beijing will be shutting down for three to four weeks, so if you're going for business, you're joking yourself," he said. "The government wants no cars on the streets for three to four weeks. They want to showcase Beijing to the world. They want a good chance of blue skies, a nice Beijing and a safe Beijing."