The thousands of young willows, poplars and pines dancing
in yesterday's warm sunshine seemed to suggest that dreams of a "green
Olympics'' could be realized after all.
In Beijing's north, the greenery is ever expanding, devouring wild
land and dirty, shabby districts.
In the last eight months, the narrow road connecting Wangjing New
Industrial Zone and the prosperous Asian Games Village area, as well
as the scattered villages alongside, has been transformed.
In their place is a four-lane road flanked by neat shrubs beside golden
fields and green woods, a 35-hectare football center and a 53-hectare
forest park.
The construction of the two started only this March, but they have
already begun to materialize.
Although the football games of the 2008 Olympics would be held outside
Beijing, the city's 2008 Bid Committee thought a world standard training
ground was essential.
The center has one pitch suitable for international competitions and
seven other pitches for practice sessions.
And the efforts continue, Liu Jingmin, executive vice-chairman of
the bid committee and vice-mayor of Beijing, told inspecting standing
members of the Beijing Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference.
The leading advisory body of Beijing was on a one-day special inspection
of the city's preparation for the bid.
"Of the 760-hectare forest Beijing promised for its Olympic Green,
nearly 400 hectares have been completed,'' he said.
Affore station has been fast-tracked in Beijing and Liu believed completing
the environmental enhancement project in time for the 2008 Olympic
Games would not be a problem.
Beijing has greened 2,668 hectares this year, the total of what it
had managed in the previous six years, and has seen over 90 percent
of the newly planted trees survive.
Beijing's highly applauded design for a 1,215-hectare Olympic Green,
the main area the city planned to accommodate the 2008 Olympic Games
if it can host it, is located at the northern tip of the city's central
axis, along the northern part of the fourth ring road.
Besides the large forest, it will include a 50-hectare Chinese ethnic
museum and a 405-hectare international exhibition and sports center.
Liu said Beijing's bid was at an essential stage, and his team was
receiving inspection groups from the world's 28 sport associations,
20 of which were to arrive in November. The inspection, which began
on October 6, is expected to wind up in late December.
Meanwhile the city's 14 existing venues were under intense renovation
for the inspection of the International Olympic Committee next February.
Beijing expects to prepare 37 venues for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Although Beijing's sports facilities do not compare to some other
candidate cities at present, Liu was confident they would be unsurpassable
in eight years time.
(China Daily 10/24/2000) |
