Qinhuangdao to Fly on Wings of 2008 Olympics

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 02, 2002

Qinhuangdao to Fly on Wings of 2008 Olympics

As Beijing was bidding for the 2008Olympics, the northern Chinese port city of Qinhuangdao planned for building a stadium which could be used for the Olympics soccer tournament.

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As Beijing was bidding for the 2008Olympics, the northern Chinese port city of Qinhuangdao planned for building a stadium which could be used for the Olympics soccer tournament.

While Beijing is working on the overall planning of Olympic venues, Qinhuangdao, as one of the four soccer venues for the Games, has laid groundwork for the 35,000-capacity stadium.

"We have started the construction of the Olympic soccer stadium," said Huang Rong, vice-mayor of the Hebei Province city.

"It will be fully in accordance with the requirements of the Olympic Games and be completed in May 2004," he added.

Huang said that their Olympic preparation could move in advancemainly because the city also plays host to the Hebei provincial games in 2004.

"Whatever the result of the Olympic bid, we would go ahead withour construction. That is why we could move ahead of Beijing in the venue construction," he said.

The stadium is just part of a giant sports complex, which also features a gymnasium, an aquatic center, a sports academy and a hotel.

The total investment for the complex stands at 1.2 billion yuanRMB (144.5 million US dollars). The gym was completed this May and has hosted some major events like the four-nation women's basketball tournament.

The complex will be the centerpiece of their drive to become a well-known sporting city across the country, Huang said.

As one of China's most well-known tourist cities, the coastal city also has convincing sporting credentials.

It was the sailing venue for the Asian Games in 1990 which Beijing hosted. Its hosting of the Asian triathlon championships also proved to be a success.

Last year the city achieved another success in hosting the World B-class cycling championships, the first ever major international cycling event held in the country.

China is also known as "Kingdom of bicycles" for owning the world's greatest number of bikes.

Qinhuangdao is currently in the build-up to August's Sports-for-all Exhibition, which has attracted as many as 2,300 participants from 13 countries and regions in the world.

"To be a sporting city, we continue to bid for events," said Wang Jianzhong, president of the event's organizing committee. "Now we are bidding to become one of the venues for Chinese first division basketball league CBA."

Wang also hopes that to host sports events could help promote tourism, which welcomes as many as 7 million tourists every year. "There are many sports fans among the tourists," he said.

But what the city aims for is more than building a sporting city. It has initiated an ambitious campaign to make full use of the golden chance of the Olympics.

"Inspired by the Olympics, there will be incremental changes every two years from now on (until 2008)," Wang said.

The city has planned an investment of 15 billion yuan RMB (180.7 million dollars) in more than 120 construction projects, with the priorities given to urban planning, traffic, environmental protection and transformation of old city sectors.

As much as 2.32 billion yuan (279.5 million dollars ) have beeninvested in such projects as the People's Square, the International Convention and Exhibition Center, the Sports Complexand a golf course.

"Our aim is to build Qinhuangdao into an international, modernized and environmentally-friendly port city of tourism," he said.

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