As one of co-host cities to stage the football preliminaries, Qinhuangdao has built up a comprehensive sports complex for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. The sports center is considered one of the best among Chinese coastal cities.
Located in the vicinity of the Bohai Sea, the Qinhuangdao sports center consists of a stadium, a gymnasium and two training fields.
The stadium will be the Olympic football pitch for the football preliminaries during the Beijing Olympics. With a capacity of 32, 000 seats, the stadium boasts multifunctional facilities for players, officials, spectators and journalists.
The design of the stadium has taken the shape of a sail, which connotes the city's energy to set sail like a ship. According to organizers, the stadium has reached criteria set by FIFA to host big events like the Olympics football events and even the World Cup.The venue is under test in all aspects at the ongoing Women's Football Tournament.
Zhao Qinghua, venue operation chief, said, "We are trying to examine venue facility and equipment as well as the team by holding this competition. Communication and coordination between different functions will also be tested. The test is conducted under the Olympics criteria."
One of the highlights of the facility has been the pitch. The field is covered with a so-called "water-dispersal" grass pitch, which, according to the venue manager can easily handle rainfall, which occurs frequently around coastal cities.
Even though the stadium in itself is considered a spectacular venue, the management seems less experienced in running its facility. Various outlets including inns, restaurants, and cyber bars have rented rooms to run business.
Zhao Qinghua said, "One of the problems is that many functional rooms have been rented out to these outlets, who refused to end the contracts at the moment. It leads to insufficient space and untidy appearance of the stadium."
Now the organizers are negotiating with them to terminate their contracts and recover the whole complex to its original outfit.
Venue operation during the first two matches of the Olympic Test Event proved to be fine but there is still room for improvement. Organizers say they are working on more detailed funcationalities to ensure a more efficient venue operation.
Their efforts will receive another test when anothertwo matches take place this Saturday.