Life's a beach

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CITYLIFE / what's on

Life's a beach

Updated: 2007-08-10 10:27

Beijing will reveal her inner beach babe this week, with the
International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Beach Volleyball Women's
Challenger grabbing the spotlight from the line-up of Olympic test
events. Chaoyang Park's brand-new beach volleyball ground is ready,
complete with white sand and peppy cheerleaders.

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The event, from August 13 to 19 will give players, spectators and the
media a preview of the arena, which was built for next year's Games at
the site of a former industrial area.

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Classified second to the International Open, the FIVB competitions
provide an excellent opportunity to test the management system, ground's
facilities and operational capabilities.

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Besides acting as a general rehearsal for the Olympics, this year's event
boosts tough and exciting competition, according to the FIVB. The main
court will be the 12,000-seat Olympic venue in Chaoyang Park, also called
the Sun Park, where 24 teams will compete seven days following the
Olympic formula, testing each organizing detail which will be repeated
from August 9 to 22, 2008.

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"We will seriously deal with the FIVB competitions to gain experience for
the Olympics," said Cheng Lianyuan, chief organizer and head of Chaoyang
District government.

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In its preparatory work, the committee regards the organization of the
competitions as its main task, the venue as the base and the venue owner
as the logistics supplier, Cheng added. The sand is another key factor
for the competition.

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A total of 22 trucks of sand have been unloaded at the end of June and
the sand had been checked by FIVB experts. A second batch of 7,000 tons
of the same sand arrived days ago, to be poured on the main court and on
two side grounds in different layers in time for the Challenger free
training sessions, from August 11. Curious locals can also touch the
rarely-seen sand in Beijing, which appears white from a distance, but on
closer inspection is flecked with yellow granules.

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?"It feels good, very thin and clean - not sticky - and it runs quickly
through your fingers," a passer-by said. At a total cost of 10 million
yuan ($1.28 million), each shipment spends 12 days aboard a boat from the
south China island of Hainan to Tianjin port and then a further two hours
or more being trucked to Beijing. The Chaoyang Park beach volleyball
venue, the first in mainland China, will continue to offer residents a
taste of the seaside after the Games.

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Entertainment, always twinned with beach volleyball, will also be trialed
at this month's event. As one of China's most famous recreation venues,
Chaoyang Park has many modern projects ready to accommodate the Olympic
Beach Volleyball Tournament. The Sun Park Wheel is one of the wonders.
Standing 208 meters high, northeast of the Olympic Beach Volleyball
Ground, it will become the world's largest observation wheel. And
cheerleaders have already begun rehearsing for the Challenger, part of
the raft of activities dubbed, Good Luck Beijing. Different cheerleading
teams have held their training sessions on the main court since last week.

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Schedule for the Challenger

Ticket: 10-80 yuan.

Preliminary rounds of 6-14 matches a day, 9am-11:50pm, August 13-16;

Quarter finals, 9am-10pm, August 17-18;

Finals on Aug 19, 9am-9:50am (Bronze Medal Match), 10am-10:50am (Gold
Medal) and 11am-11:30am (Medal Ceremony).

Tel: 010-6417-7845.

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