China's capital will kick off the World University Games with a multimillion-dollar extravaganza starting at 8 p.m. tomorrow.

"We will show the world China's ability to organize the best Universiade in history," said Tu Mingde, deputy secretary-general of the event's organizing committee.

More than 6,800 athletes from 167 countries and regions are expected to participate in 11 days of track and field, basketball, gymnastics, swimming, diving and other sports.

The opening ceremony alone took 18 months to prepare and cost US$3.7 million, organizers said yesterday.

"We want to show a new image of Beijing and help the world better understand the Chinese capital," said Sun Piping, choreographer of the opening and closing ceremonies. "We see the opening ceremony as a happy gathering of world youth."

Rehearsals for the ceremony, involving more than 11,000 people including a marching band of 800 from four foreign countries, have taken up some 1,000 hours.

There will also be more than 30 theatrical performances on the stages of 10 major theaters every night during a cultural festival associated with the games. Entertainment will include Peking Opera, symphonies and ballet.

Yesterday, the torch of the 21st Universiade returned to Beijing after a 109-day journey throughout the nation.

The flame was carried over more than 20,000 kilometers, winding its way through the 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions on the mainland, as well as the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions.

Nearly 300,000 students at roughly 200 universities participated in the symbolic relay.

Meanwhile, finishing touches were being applied to the Athletes Village, which can accommodate 8,000 athletes, officials, VIPs and other participants.

A dining hall, medical facility, recreation center, religious rooms and Internet coffee bar are now open in the 220,000-square-meter village, reported Xinhua news agency.

"The Olympic motto also applies to the University Games - green, high-tech and people-oriented," said Tu, who is also secretary-general of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

"The Beijing Universiade will meet all the international standards required," said Zhang Faqiang, executive vice chairman of the organizing committee, adding that the University Games will be staged as if they were the Olympics.

Among the events themselves, some 200 gymnasts from 39 countries and regions registered for the artistic gymnastics com-petitions.

The field will still be tough even though some of the big names in the gymnastics world won't turn up, said Miao Zhongyi, director of the competition department.

"The Universiade will be the first inter-national tournament to adopt the new gymnastics rules. So it is hard to predict the results, but traditional gymnastic powerhouses such as Russia, China, Ukraine and the United States remain the favorites," said Miao.

As host of the games, China expects to strike gold in the sport.

"We field a strong team at the University Games, and our hope is to win at least three to five gold medals," Ye Zhennan, manager of the Chinese gymnastic team, told the news agency.

(Eastday.com 08/21/2001)