(good) progress

With a series of pre-Olympic test events getting under way this month, the readiness of the venues is one of the key subjects being put under the microscope.

Beijing requires 31 venues featuring innovative designs, advanced facilities and first-class services to host the 2008 Games.

Of these, 12 are being newly built, 11 are renovated buildings and eight are temporary venues.

The Beijing Shooting Range Hall and Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park were completed on July 28 and handed over to the Games organizers. The main structures of most of the other venues are also finished, with a final deadline of year's end.

The exception is expected to be the centerpiece National Stadium, or Bird's Nest, which has already been trimmed down by deciding to leave out a retractable roof. It will be finished by March, in time to host a tune-up event in April.

Some 26 warm-up events will be held between now and the new year, with only three not in Beijing. All of the competition venues are on track to be ready on time.

The Fengtai Softball Field, one of the renovated venues, was completed and tested last year.

Meanwhile, construction work on the 45 training venues is going smoothly. The athletics field of Chaoyang Sports Center has been completed and was put into use last year. Forty-two are now under construction, with the other two to break ground at the end of this month.

As for broader infrastructure works, 62 roads and four bridges will be built near the Olympic venues, including 16 trunk roads, 27 secondary trunk roads, 18 branch roads and one highway, for a total length of about 162 km.

Of the 56 roads and bridges being built, 31 of the former and three of the latter are already in use.

In addition to the Beijing venues, others in the remaining six co-host cities are almost ready.

Soccer stadiums in Qinhuangdao and Shenyang hosted test events last month.

Work on the Hong Kong-based equestrian venues ended last month and the facilities are ready for testing.

The jumping and dressage program will be held at Sha Tin, which houses Hong Kong's largest racecourse, while the cross-country competition will be at Beas River.

Text by Lei Lei. Photos by Lu Zhongqiu, Guo Yingguang, Xu Jingxing, Niu Yixin, Du Lianyi, Gong Wenbao and Cuihao. Information source: BOCOG website

(China Daily 08/08/2007 page39)