 |
|
|
Ready for Testing2007/07/31
Approaching one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympic Games, the time has come to test everything specific to the Games, from competition venues and traffic control to medical and security systems. Twenty-six “Good Luck Beijing” test events will soon begin, “Good Luck series events are a rehearsal of the organization work for the Olympics and excellent preparations will lay a solid foundation for next year’s Olympic Games,” said Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). The competitions are arranged in accordance with International Olympic Committee requests and Beijing’s 2008 Games-bid promises. All Olympic venues are required to be examined through “Good Luck Beijing” events to ensure that the facilities, technical systems, plans, operations norms and logistics are ready for the Olympic Games.
Shenyang and Qinhuangdao Pass the Test The first test event, the International Women’s Football Tournament, ended in Shenyang and Qinhuangdao in July. Thailand’s assistant team manager Khajohnkiat Nipatpokai said, “I think it was a successful tournament. Viewed by even the most rigorous standards, the whole event went smoothly. It was well-organized, which was a vote of confidence for everybody coming here for next year’s Olympic Games.” Four women’s football teams participated in the warm-up event for September’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, as China was joined by Italy, Mexico and Thailand in Shenyang’s newly completed Wulihe Stadium and Qinhuangdao’s Olympic Centre Stadium, both of which will be venues for football preliminaries for 2008 Olympics football. Lepe Villarreal Gerardo, Mexico’s team manager, said, “It was perfect. We all felt lucky to have a chance to play on such beautiful pitches.” The Qinhuangdao’s competitive and training pitches had been pelted by rain for two days before the tourney opened on July 1, but the drainage system worked efficiently and no complaints were heard from the teams. As with the Olympics schedule, the tournament took place over four competition days and all participants had to twice shuttle between the two cities during a ten-day period. To solve travel problems, the organizing committees, on non-competition days, reserved special carriages for the teams on China Railway High-Speed (CRH) trains. The CRH D-trains won the soccer teams’ confidence. Security also went smoothly; about 3,000 and 5,000 security personnel in Qinhuangdao and Shenyang were deployed to check bags and ensure everyone’s safety. Automatic fire alarms, water-spraying systems and evacuation pilot lights were tested. (Each stadium has more than 20 emergency exits.) Journalists were warmly welcomed. In Shenyang’s Wulihe Stadium, two more than 200-square-metre press rooms were available for journalists. Within 15 minutes after every match, interview details were distributed. Xu Dadi, director of the Shenyang Organizing Committee for the 2008 Games, said, “It was a good opportunity for us to get familiar with the venues, atmosphere, and the working content of organizing an Olympic-standard event. It helped us to discover some things we need to do before the 2008 Games.”
Beijing Is Getting Ready Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan, who also serves as a BOCOG executive president, tasked the government of Beijing to ensure all-round logistics support, such as security, transport, commercial services, accommodation, food safety, health care and disease prevention for the test events and the Games. The training of volunteers and media specialists is on the agenda.
Professional Logistics Services The Beijing Olympic Logistics Centre at Beijing’s Capital International Airport was officially inaugurated on March 8. And UPS, responsible for providing logistics and express delivery services for the Beijing Games and Paralympics, is managing the centre. Vice-Mayor of Beijing Liu Jingmin, who also serves as a BOCOG Executive vice-president said, “Logistics is a major part of the Olympic preparations and the supplies foundation for a high-level Olympics. The logistics centre is charged with reception, storage and distribution of the materials for the Beijing Games; it will also engage in the materials’ security checks, quarantine and customs procedures, as well as transportation arrangements.” The Olympic logistics operation has entered a new phase with the “Good Luck Beijing" events and the venue-oriented operations are drawing near. UPS has selected 45 back-up road routes to timely reach the 23 test-event venues.
Timely and Accurate Weather Forecasts A weather service centre has been established for the 2008 Games, according to Wang Jianjie, vice-director of The Beijing Municipal Meteorological Bureau. The centre is responsible for releasing weather forecasts for Beijing and co-host cities of the Olympics. Wang Jianjie said, “Beijing has installed new radar systems and new weather satellites over the past two years to timely gather meteorological information. In addition, we are upgrading computer and intranet technologies and equipment to meet the Olympics’ needs.”
Daily Report on Food Safety Beijing will start a daily report mechanism on food safety during the “Good Luck Beijing” events, a test run for a food safety monitoring system designed for the Beijing Olympics. No such daily reports have ever been made in Beijing. Sources with the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office said that Beijing is going to share this system with all other co-host cities. The system will monitor 10 types of information including the production, processing, sale and the cooking of food. The Beijing Municipal Government has started to list food and drink suppliers for the Olympics. The first batch of 20 enterprises providing food raw materials have been confirmed and are under supervision. Food safety authorities have inspected 6,800 samples of 345 kinds of foodstuff so far. The test reports will be loaded into the monitoring system for reference. The municipality has also developed a plan to standardize the supervision of Olympics food and drink supply centres and alternative supply centres, which covers production, processing, distribution and the safety of packaging but also the production of raw materials.
Traffic Control Rehearsals Beijing Municipality will remove about one million vehicles from the roads from August 7–20 August to rehearse traffic control measures for next year’s Games. A spokesman with Beijing’s Road Traffic Management Bureau said the move will speed up traffic in urban areas but will cause little inconvenience. “Students will be staying home for the summer holiday and the working population can take public transportation instead of driving,” he said. The bureau said urban road transport has reached a crisis point in Beijing, with 90 percent of roads operating at full capacity and with little room for expansion. There were three million registered automobiles in Beijing on May 26, straining the city's traffic system and environment.
Volunteers Trained As of May 25, 2007, 509,112 Olympic Games volunteer applications had been received, including 302,569 from the Beijing area, 188,447 from other provinces and municipalities on the Chinese mainland, and 18,096 from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas, according to BOCOG data. Preparations for volunteer training and interaction with the applicants are ready. The Reader on Beijing Olympic Games Volunteers and other textbooks have been published. About 20 model training bases have been created, and a team of 168 experts has been established. A remote training and test system has been opened to all applicants. Some of the applicants will be involved in the coming “Good Luck Beijing” sport events, which will help them gain experience for service in the 2008 Olympics.
Qingdao and Hong Kong Preparations Go Well Test events will be held in Qingdao and Hong Kong on August 9–24 and August 11–13 respectively. About 600 athletes and coaches from more than 50 countries have registered to take part in the “Good Luck Beijing”–2007 Qingdao International Regatta. Qingdao’s 2006 regatta under the same name was a big success, and it allowed organizers to gain much experience. The 2007 regatta will be the last chance for athletes from around the world to get the tickets for the 2008 Games sailing event. The Games’ equestrian events will be held at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Penfold Park in Shatin, Beas River Country Club and part of the adjacent Hong Kong Golf Club. All major facilities will be ready by August for the test event. Local authorities have pledged to provide the highest standards of facilities for the success of the Olympic equestrian events. In addition, Hong Kong already has world-class equine care facilities and medical services for horses, and is developing a group of professionals in the equestrian events with quarantine protocol arrangements established with many countries.
Tickets for “Good Luck Beijing” can be bought online and at competition venues two weeks before the events begin. WWW: http://www.goodluckbeijing.com.cn Tel: +86 10 6406 8888/9999, 6417 0058/0068 Admission: 10–150 yuan (Special seats for the disabled are available.)
No. Sport / Discipline Name of the Event Date Competition Venue 1 Football Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.07.01-07.10 Qinhuangdao, Shenyang International Women's Football Tournament 2 Rowing 2007 World Rowing Junior Championships 2007.08.07-08.11 Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 3 Hockey Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.08.08-08.13 Olympic Green Hockey Field International Hockey Tour nament 4 Sailing Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.08.09-08.24 Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center Qingdao International Regatta 5 Equestrian Good Luck Beijing HKSAR 10th Anniversary 2007.08.11-08.13 Hong Kong Equestrian Venue (Shatin), Celebration Invitation Cup Eventing Competition Hong Kong Equestrian Venue (Beas River) 6 Beach Volleyball 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's Challenger 2007.08.13-08.19 Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground 7 Canoe-Slalom Good Luck Beijing 2007 Canoe/Kayak Slalom Open 2007.08.16-08.19 Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 8 Road Cycling Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.08.18-08.19 Road Cycling Course 9 Baseball Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.08.18-08.23 Wukesong Baseball Field International Baseball Tournament 10 Archery Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.08.20-08.26 Olympic Green Archery Field International Archery Tournament 11 BMX Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.08.20-08.21 Laoshan Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX) Venue UCI BMX Supercross World Cup 12 Wrestling 2007 Junior World Wrestling Championship 2007.08.21-08.26 China Agricultural University Gymnasium 13 Canoe-Flatwater Good Luck Beijing 2007 Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Open 2007.08.23-08.26 Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park 14 Goal Ball Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.09.13-09.16 (TBC) Beijing Institute of Technology Sports Hall International Goalball Tournament 15 Modern Pentathlon 2007 Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final 2007.09.15-09.16 Olympic Sports Center Stadium Ying Tung Natatorium Fencing Hall 16 Cycling-Mountain Bike Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.09.22 Laoshan Mountain Bike Course International Mountain Bike Invitational Competition 17 Triathlon 2007 Beijing BG Triathlon World Cup 2007.09.15-16 Triathlon Venue 18 Tennis ITF Pro-Circuit Beijing Events 2007.10.8-10.21 Olympic Green Tennis Center 19 Badminton Good Luck Beijing 2007 2007.10.10-10.14 Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium International Badminton Invitational Tournament 20 Judo Good Luck Beijing 2007 Beijing Judo Open 2007.11.16-11.18 University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium 21 Artistic Gymnastic Good Luck Beijing 2007 Artistic Gymnastics 2007.11.28-12.03 National Indoor Stadium International Invitational Tournament 22 Trampoline Good Luck Beijing 2007 Trampoline Gymnastics 2007.11.30-12.03 National Indoor Stadium International Invitational Tournament 23 Boxing Good Luck Beijing International Boxing 2007.11.17-11.22 Worker's Indoor Arena Invitational Tournament 24 Rhythmic Gymnastic Good Luck Beijing 2007 Rhythmic 2007.12.05-12.07 Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium Gymnastics International Invitational Tournament 25 Cycling-Track Good Luck 07-08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup "Classic" 2007.12.07-12.09 Laoshan Velodrome 26 Table Tennis ITTF Pro-TOUR Grand Finals 2007.12.13-12.19 Peking University Gymnasium
|
| * |
京ICPè¯050057å·http://www.miibeian.gov.cn