The motifs for jumping fences in the Beijing Olympic equestrian competition venues here reflect the Chinese history and culture, fence builder Frank Rothenberger of Germany said on Friday.
Rothenberger said that a good fence must be eye-catching but transportable; not too heavy but stable and durable and it must absorb gusts of wind without toppling over easily.
The most complicated fences to build were 'Dragonboat', which features dragons and 'Skyline of Hong Kong'.
One fence was made in China. "The designers sent a picture of red wooden doors with very elaborate carvings. I could not do that but found the builder of these doors in China and they made the doors for us, shipping them directly to Hong Kong', said Rothenberger.
Red and gold are the preferred colors, the 'gold' derived from metallic powder dissolved in clear varnish.
Rothenberger said designers shipped six lorry-loads of fence material totaling 400 cubic meters of building parts to Hong Kong."The last bits arrived by airfreight only yesterday," Rothenberger added.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)