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Spanking new steel 'Bird's Nest' stadium in Guiyang

By Roseanne Gerin: 0 Comments Print E-mail CRI, May 31, 2011

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This photo taken on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, shows the Guiyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium in southwest China's Guizhou Province. It will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Ninth National Traditional Ethnic Minority Sports Meet on September 10-19. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yu JingJing]

Workers standing on scaffolding put the finishing touches on the "Olympic torch," while others mow the grass in center field and mop floors inside a spanking new steel "Bird's Nest" stadium.

But this time, the stadium is in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Similar in design to the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing, the Guiyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium has been under construction for two years. Now it's being prepped for the Ninth National Traditional Ethnic Minority Sports Meet on September 10-19.

So far, the Guiyang municipal government has spent 882 million yuan (US$135.9 million) on building the 53,000-seat stadium in a newly created city district.

"The CPC (Communist Party of China) Guizhou Provincial Committee and the provincial government have placed high priority on attracting investment for the Ninth National Traditional Ethnic Minority Sports Meet," said Wang Jianzhong, Deputy Director-General of the Sports Bureau of Guizhou Province.

Although the stadium has not been built specifically for the sports meet, it will host the event's opening and closing ceremonies. It is one of 17 venues in and around Guiyang where thousands of athletes from China's ethnic groups are expected to compete in 16 competitive sports such as equestrian events, archery, wrestling and a rugby-like sport called "huapao" or "firecracker ball." The meet also will feature 180 demonstration sports, most of which consist of costume displays, dancing, singing and artistic performance competitions.

In addition, the Guiyang municipal government has gutted a residential area next to Guanshanhu Park in the new Jinyang District to build a stage and viewing area where an all-day performance showcasing various ethnic minority cultures will be held on September 15. The city also plans to set up new bus routes to the venues and add more buses to existing ones during the games.

All the competition venues, including Hongfeng Lake Water Sports Training Base, Guizhou University, Guiyang College, Guiyang City People's Stadium and the Guizhou Administration of Sports' Qingzhen Sports Training Base, are located within an hour's drive of each other.

While the stadium in Guiyang is the only completely new venue, the others have been renovated to accommodate athletes and spectators. About 180 companies and corporate sponsors have provided 230 million yuan (US$35.4 million) for renovations, while the province is holding an ongoing sports lottery to raise additional funds, Wang Jianzhong said.

The Guiyang municipal government is spending about 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million) to renovate the Hong Feng Lake complex, 22 kilometers from the city, said Wang Guoqing, an official from the Sports Bureau of Guiyang. Construction workers are building a 197-seat viewing area where spectators can watch the dragon boat and single bamboo drifting competitions, as well as a facility for storing fiberglass "drifts" and other equipment.

China's National Ethnic Minority Committee selected Guiyang to host this year's sports meet, the location of which rotates among various provinces, autonomous regions and cities throughout the country. The city's selection is significant for Guizhou, one of China's poorest provinces where ethnic minorities, such as the Miao, Buyi and Dong, make up roughly 37 percent of the population. Municipal and provincial government officials hope the event will promote multiethnic communication and understanding among the participants.

China held its first National Traditional Ethnic Minority Sports Meet in 1953 as a way to preserve the cultures of its 55 ethnic minority groups and strengthen national unity. The event has been held about every four years since 1982. Athletes from all ethnic minority groups and the Han ethnic majority will compete in 33 delegations at this year's games.

Yu Jingjing contributed to this report.

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