China's biggest skiing resort Yabuli, which is busy preparing
for next year's winter universiade, met knotty problems to deal
with for National Winter Games to be opened on Friday.
To get along with local freezing temperature which drops to
nearly 30 degree below zero at night, many athletes and journalists
arrived three or four days ahead of China's 11th Winter Games
commencement at Yabuli skiing resort in northeast China's
Heilongjiang Province.
They have found a tougher issue than cold in their rooms where
tap water is not available in daytime and they have to use public
bathroom on each floor.
Buildings under construction could be seen everywhere in the
resort. Journalists and athletes were mixed in a temporary building
for accommodation since all of the hotels of the resort have been
either under construction or interior decoration.
More than 1,000 athletes, journalists and officials made the
building so crowded that Chinese snowboard national team was
rearranged out to a local private-owned hotel.
Safe food supplying bases prepared for the universiade have not
been put in use and the food supply for the National Winter Games
rely fully on transportation from Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.
Dining time of each meal has been limited to just one hour.
Harbin won a bid for the 24th World University Games in 2005 and
the Yabuli skiing resort, 200 kilometers away from Harbin, was
assigned to hold the skiing disciplines. To meet the need of the
universiade, the resort has launched series of reconstruction and
other upgrading works. However, obviously it has not given enough
attention to another commitment of National Winter Games before
completion.
According to the reconstruction plan for the universiade, one of
the two reservoirs for the skiing resort has been pumped empty to
be enlarged, water in the other one has been used up to create
skiing track snows for the upcoming National Winter Games.
"In the past two months, we have used the water in the reservoir
to create manmade snow," Cai Xueli, a press official with the
organizing committee of National Winter Games, told Xinhua, "there
has been little rain and snow fall this winter, so the reservoir
could not store up enough water."
The organizing committee has carried out an emergency plan to
cope with the water supply shortage. Every water well near the
skiing resort has been used to pump water as much as it could
supply and two fire engines belong to local forest police have been
mobiled to pump water to the buildings where games participants and
journalists live.
On Thursday, the committee has also called another five fire
engines from Harbin to join in the water supply team, making hot
water for shower available from 7 to 10 o'clock at night.
Officials with the committee have kept explaining and comforting
complaining journalists and asked them to understand the current
situation was resulted by the preparation for the universiade one
year later which seems to be more important than the National
Winter Games to be on stage tomorrow.
According to the blueprint of the universiade preparation, after
the completion of reconstruction the two reservoirs could provide a
living water supply of about 250 thousand cubic meters. In another
word, they could support 25,000 people's living for 50 days with a
daily water consumption of 5,000 cubic meters.
And all the hotels under construction or decoration would be
able to accept five to six thousand people to live, according to
the blueprint.
"The Yabuli resort will have the ability to hold Winter Olympics
with this capacity," Cai said.
The committee has told the press the preparation for the
universiade has also bring advantages to the National Winter Games,
since all the facilities for competition have been recognized by
International Ski Federation.
Moreover, transportation improvements have also benefit the
National Winter Games participants before the universiade.
To shorten the transportation time, a special railway connecting
Yabuli resort to Harbin has been completed last December which
reduce the traveling time from about five hours to just two
hours.
Another piece of good news came just before the National Winter
Games that six local hotels around the skiing resort have been
persuaded to accept athletes which releases accommodation pressure
in the temporary buildings.
"We can not guarantee a 24-hour water supply, but can guarantee
that the committee will do everything we can to meet everyone's
need," Cai said.
The vice director of Heilongjiang Provincial Sports
Administration Guo Mingyu said in a reception held on Thursday
evening that he appreciate journalist and athlete's cooperation and
understanding to the problems occurred and again promised the
province will provide a much better service in the universiade one
year later.
(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2008)