By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING, March 10 (Reuters) - Enthusiasm for August's Beijing Olympics is a nationwide phenomenon with 74 percent of Chinese either "excited" or "very excited", according to a survey released on Monday.

In the Chinese capital, 79 percent of those surveyed were excited about the Aug. 8-24 Games and only 2 percent of Beijingers said they would be leaving the city in August.

Some 2,687 people aged 12 to 54 across 20 provinces and four major cities were interviewed for the survey, which was a joint initiative by Millward Brown ACSR and Ogilvy Group.

"We wanted to find out just how excited the people were and the answer is very," said Miles Young, chairman of Ogilvy Group Asia-Pacific, said in a teleconference on Monday.

"As far as we can discern, these are far higher levels of excitement than the most two recent Olympics in Athens and Sydney."

Residents of Tianjin, Yunnan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang were the least excited of those surveyed while the southern city of Guangzhou registered the highest level of excitement at 80 percent.

"Quite often people in the provinces feel left out of the 'New China' but the Olympics are something they can relate to emotionally," Young added.

On the downside of the Games, Beijing residents were most concerned about over-crowding (63 percent) during the Games as well as about traffic (63 percent) and pollution (40 percent).

Fears about overcrowding may be realised if the 34 percent of Shanghainese and 26 percent of Guangzhou residents realise their ambition of travelling to Beijing during Games time.

The 90 percent of Beijingers definitely planning to remain in the capital and 48 percent saying they would take their annual holiday during the Games illustrated a high level of engagement with the Games, Young said.

"This is very different from Sydney and Athens ... they are not just staying but are going to be actively involved in the them," he added.

"There is no sense that the Games are happening above them, they are connecting with it." The survey also found a high level of patriotism among the respondents with the events where China is expected to do well -- table tennis, diving and gymnastics -- the most eagerly anticipated. (Take a look at the Countdown to Beijing blog at http://blogs.reuters.com/china)

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