Beijing residents who dream of swimming in real seawater without actually going to the seaside will soon see their dream come true.

The first seawater swimming pool in the capital, jointly developed by Shijingshan District's Sports Bureau and Longyang Group Co Ltd, which is based in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, is now under construction.

Seawater from Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, will be purchased and transported to Beijing.

The pool will be 8,000 square meters with an investment of 120 million yuan (US$14.6 million), and will use around 30 tons of seawater daily.

"The reason we chose seawater from Dalian is because of its fine quality," according to Liao Bin, of the Longyang Group.

"Natural seawater is good for people's health because it contains rich elements," he said. The seawater will be purified through a filtration, sanitation and heating system to reach national water standards.

From a pumping station in Dalian, the seawater will be transported to Beijing by train in special tanks, Liao said. However, he was reluctant to reveal how much the firm will pay for the water.

Before the pool welcomes its first batch of swimmers, it needs 2,400 cubic meters of seawater to fill it, which will take some two months to transport. After that, 500 cubic meters of seawater will be transported to Beijing each week, Liaoshen Evening Newspaper reports.

A tank which can hold 500 tons of water has been built to store seawater for the pool, Cao Chunhong, with Beijing's Shijingshan District Sports Bureau, said.

Having started construction last December, the pool is expected to be completed in 18 months' time, she said, adding that it is designed to cater for the needs of Beijing's more wealthy residents.

With a capacity of 2,000 swimmers, the pool is 50 meters long and 25 meters wide.

The temperature of the water will be kept at around 27 C.

This is the second inland seawater swimming pool in China, with the first in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province in northeast China. It was also built by the Longyang Group.

(China Daily February 22, 2005)