It's been all systems go for the Special Olympics athletes since their arrival in Shanghai — and the competition hasn't even begun yet.

Communities all over the city yesterday greeted the athletes and delegations in their own special way.

The 70-member team from Denmark, who arrived at Pudong International Airport on Friday night, was greeted by staff and residents at the Jing'ansi Community of Jing'an District yesterday morning.

Tim Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics, also attended the welcoming ceremony for the Danes.

"Some people asked me: 'Why do you come to be with the Denmark delegation this morning?' and I answered: 'Because I'm so lucky'," Shriver told the Danish athletes at the ceremony, which won a rousing cheer.

"Everyone wants to win a medal at the Special Olympics ... do you want to win one?" he asked them.

"Yeah!" they shouted as one.

"So you are the real deal," Shriver said. "I expect to see you win medals."

Wang Peng, an official of the Jing'ansi Community, gave a speech during the ceremony to welcome the Danish delegation.

"This year is the 57th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Denmark, and I believe our local residents will provide the warmest and most perfect services for you and your family members," Wang said.

After the ceremony, there was free time for the athletes to visit the famous Lane 520 on Yuyuan Road, where they enjoyed traditional Chinese games.

Lane 520, which is flanked by 16 well-preserved three-story houses built more than 80 years ago, typifies old Shanghai. It is also the first sports lane established in the city.

"It became a sports lane about 10 years ago, when sports facilities were introduced in the open areas, and the community holds many family activities at weekends," said Fang Yanyun, an official of the Jing'ansi Community.

"Then the lane began to focus on developing traditional games about five years ago — a perfect way to introduce foreign guests to the community."

The traditional fare included "building house," a children's game in which players toss a small object into numbered spaces on a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground. They then hop or jump through the spaces to retrieve the object.

This game proved a winner with the athletes. All of them finished the game and received a gift from community staff.

Marlene Fauerholdt, head of the Danish delegation, also took part in the traditional games.

"I came to Shanghai for the first time last year, and this is my second visit," she said yesterday.

"Both of the visits gave me the deep impression that Shanghai is a very beautiful city and I enjoy Chinese food such as the dumplings and soups.

"People here are very friendly and we even received bottles of water as soon as we got off the plane. The enthusiastic people made the athletes feel welcome and we felt the Special Olympics spirit as soon as we arrived in Shanghai."

Another traditional game is to pick up glass marbles using chopsticks, which also attracted a lot of participants, including Shriver.

Other athletes played outdoor bowling and shot basketballs. "I enjoyed the games very much," said Patrick Karlsson, one of the Danish athletes, as he was playing basketball.

More than 40 volunteers were on hand in the community to accompany the athletes. The volunteers have been preparing linguistically for a long time. Most of them speak English and German, and others have learnt some Danish.

(Shanghai Daily September 30, 2007)