Keeping a close eye on aero sports
An annual aeronautics show in the city of Laiwu, in Shandong province is not just attracting air sports fans but a broad range of tourists as well.
Thanks to the mountains that surround the Xueye lake area, where the aerobatics activities are held, there are good conditions for various related sports such as paragliding and hot-air ballooning.
"The local government is committed to developing a Chinese air sports capital," explained Ma Pingchang, Laiwu's mayor, in a talk with China Daily.
"We'll make an effort to developing tourism with aeronautics features."
There is already a 450-million-yuan aviation technology park near Xueye Lake which contains an airfield, an air sports training center, and leisure areas.
To begin capitalizing on these resources, the city already held national paraglider and paramotor masters tournaments, in 2007 and 2008.
Its aeronautics galas in 2009 and 2010 attracted athletes from over 20 countries, including France, the United States, Belgium and Britain, and attracted more than 600,000 spectators.
It clearly has an advantageous location and its efforts to develop air sports have earned Laiwu recognition from China's General Administration of Sports as a permanent place for the annual aeronautics fair.
(China Daily 09/26/2011 page24)
