Sailing to fame
By Dai Yan, Wang Qian and Zhao Ruixue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-28 09:43
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International maritime fest enhances Qingdao's renown as nation's top spot for ocean sports, Dai Yan, Wang Qian and Zhao Ruixue report
The Qingdao International Marine Festival kicked off on July 24 at the Olympic Sailing Center with colorful activities that turned the coastal city into "a sea of joy", said the event's organizer.
"The marine festival is a way for Qingdao to communicate and connect with the world," Xia Geng, the mayor of Qingdao told China Daily.
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| Teenagers ready to sail. Dai Yan / China Daily |
According to Zhang Zhen'an, manager of the Qingdao City Construction Investment Group, the slogan for this year's festival is to "embrace the blue ocean and the carnival of charming Qingdao".
The first part of the festival, from July 24 to Aug 9, includes naval activities, marine tourism, marine sports. The second phase from Aug 21 to 29 will include Qingdao International Sailing Week.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit over the duration of the event.
One of Chinese navy's most advanced missile frigates, the Cangzhou, is docked at the Olympic Sailing Center and open to tours during the festival.
The city, long known for its international connections, is a popular draw for foreign tourists.
"We love the clean sea and the hospitable people - Qingdao is a romantic and charming city," said Carlo LeBrocq, who was on the beach with his wife to play volleyball .
A yacht sailor from Germany named Frank noted that "Qingdao's sailing sports are impressive, as was the 2008 Olympic Regatta - I can see that Qingdao is making great effort to develop sailing sports".
Other activities during the festival include performances and competitions in skateboarding, motorboats, diving, windsurfing and fishing.
International Sailing Week also includes a mayors' forum, an international sailing summit and a range of yachting competitions.
Training for teenagers
An important part of the 2010 Qingdao International Marine Festival, the Qingdao International Junior Training Camp Regatta 2010 (OP Class), is a training program for teenagers from Aug 15 to 22.
Sponsors of the teen sailing fest are China's General Administration of Sport, the Qingdao municipal government and an international sailing organization.
Among the 500 teenagers participating are 200 from cities that once held Olympic Sailing events, overseas sister cities of Qingdao and cities famous for sailing sports.
As well, 300 teens from eight countries including Germany, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia will join those from eight of China's cities. About 30 teams have registered for an OP-class sail competition during the teen week.
To honor Qingdao's achievements, China's General Administration of Sport has named it a demonstration city for popularizing sailing among the youth.
Qingdao's sailing schools and clubs have now cultivated more than 3,000 professional sailors.
First race in 1904
At the southern tip of the Shandong Peninsula on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao is considered the birthplace of sports sailing in China, a title that was cemented when it hosted the Olympic Sailing competition in 2008.
But the city was connected to sailing events long before.
Its earliest sailing race dates back to 1904, when the German Royal Yacht Club held a sailing competition, the earliest recorded in China.
With the establishment of the Qingdao Sailing Club in 1953, it became the training center for the nation and hosted China's first sailing regatta in 1980.
In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Qingdao organized international regattas in 2006 and 2007 that attracted more than 500 athletes from 40 countries and regions around the world.
After seven years of preparation, Qingdao's Olympic events were lauded by the International Olympic Committee, the International Sailing Federation and the International Paralympic Sailing Federation.
Many top sailing competitions now make the city a stopover, including the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and Volvo Ocean Race.
Building on its sailing culture, 65 primary and secondary schools and 100 clubs targeting students in Qingdao offer sailing instruction and organize teams.
The Qingdao-Kiel youth sailing camp held for four consecutive years has helped to train nearly 10,000 young sailors.