Making a world-class center: Qingdao timeline
The following is a timeline of the preparation for the Olympic sailing races in Qingdao, Shandong province:
1999: Qingdao launches its bid for the 2008 Olympic Sailing competition.
Windmills at the sailing center produce power - and a subject for many photographers. Ju Chuanjiang |
July 13, 2001: Beijing is awarded the 2008 Olympic Games. Qingdao beat out other coastal cities, including Dalian, to seal the races.
June 11, 2003: Approved by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, the Qingdao Sailing Committee is formed.
May 25, 2004: The Qingdao International Sailing Center breaks ground.
December 28, 2005: Ahead of schedule, Qingdao completes its executive and management centers for the sailing center.
Jan 23, 2006: Sailor Guo Chuan, a native of Qingdao, becomes the first Chinese to participate in an around the world race yacht race, crewing on the leg from Singapore to Qingdao.
April 3-8, 2006: Qingdao has a successful debut in the sailing world as a stopover on the around the world race.
August 18-31, 2006: The 2006 International Sailing Regatta is held at the Olympics Sailing Center of Qingdao.
August 9-24, 2007: The 2007 Qingdao International Sailing Regatta, a second Olympics test event, is successfully hosted in Qingdao.
January, 2008: The Olympics Village - the final big project in Qingdao's preparations - is completed.
(China Daily 03/05/2008 page24)