Residents who used to have their physical exercises by walking only, nowadays have easy access to the sports facilities even among their communities.
"I keep physical exercises one to two hours daily," said Xia Qingcheng who cheered for the torch relay along the rainy road, "We're putting sports activities in our daily life, and we're participating in the Olympic Movement actively."
Sports facilities and recreational equipment have been put in place in all immigrating cities, including Wanzhou.
"We have set up many a squares in our city, and the riverside Corridor has an area of nearly 6,000 square meters, which alone attracted some 2 million person-time last year," said Ran Molin, director of Wanzhou Sports Bureau.
To explore the advantage of two rivers flowing through, Chongqing, with Wanzhou as its second biggest city, has carried out a Fitness Program along the banks of the rivers for ordinary people in sports activities of basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, rock climbing and swimming.
Ten treks have been set up along mountain roads, which recorded the footsteps of 2 million person-time last year, and more than 600,000 square meters have been allocated for sports activities in the countryside for more than 3 million peasants in Chongqing.
Therefore, many of the torch bearers in Wanzhou are ordinary residents. Luo Yang, a nurse in the Three Gorges Central Hospital, said after her leg of the torch relay that "I likes running and I enjoys the torch relay. Running the hundred meter is an easy call for me."
(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2008)