A grand ceremony marking the inauguration of the Sichuan HKJC Olympic School was held in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, on April 23.

Covering 86,000 square meters, the school has been built with a donation of 135 million yuan ($21 million) from the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC).

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude-8.0 earthquake struck Wenchuan county in Sichuan, leaving homes and schools in ruins.

While busy preparing equestrian venues for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the HKJC saw the need to offer aid and honor a request from the General Administration of Sport of China as well as the Sichuan Provincial Sports Federation, to donate 135 million yuan to build this Olympic school in Dujiangyan to nurture elite sports talent in Sichuan, says Liu Daping, an HKJC official.

The new school, which has venues for basketball, volleyball, soccer, table tennis, badminton, tennis, wrestling, judo, taekwondo, martial arts, and track and field, can accommodate up to 500 sports students for learning and training.

It can also serve as a site for residents of Dujiangyan and nearly 5,000 students of nearby Dujiangyan Middle School to participate in fitness activities and take sports courses, says Xu Fuyi, mayor of Dujiangyan.

While visiting the school, HKJC Chairman Brian Stevenson played table tennis with Cai Zhenhua, deputy-minister of the General Administration of Sport of China.

Stevenson, who is also president of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, played rugby with the school's female rugby team members and had a group photo taken with them.

"I have had a keen interest in sports since I was young. I was a rugby player in earlier years and played in the backs, a position that requires speed and strength. I am still an active tennis and golf player," he told China Daily.

Stevenson was impressed with the speed and scale of reconstruction achieved in the quake-stricken areas.

"The Hong Kong Jockey Club is most pleased to have been able to make its own contribution to Sichuan reconstruction, donating one billion Hong Kong dollars. It is the first time in the club's history that we have made such a significant donation outside Hong Kong," he said.

"Among the reconstruction projects we've funded, the Sichuan HKJC Olympic School is most symbolic of the legacy created as the sports community was badly hit by the quake," he adds.

According to Zhu Ling, chief of the Sichuan Provincial Sports Bureau, the Sichuan HKJC Olympic School is innovative and stresses academic education.

"Students combine academic education with sporting training, which will not only help to create a new, more competitive generation of athletes but also give athletes wider professional choices in their future careers," she says.

According to Liu Jie, vice-governor of Sichuan, the HKJC has aided seven reconstruction projects in Sichuan. Five have been completed and the rest are expected to be completed in September.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club, a non-profit organization, is one of the world's largest horse racing institutions. Each year, it donates more than 1 billion Hong Kong dollars to charity in Hong Kong.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Sichuan HKJC Olympic School, Cai Zhenhua, deputy-minister of the General Administration of Sport of China, said: "The Hong Kong Jockey Club is active in supporting the development of sports on the Chinese mainland. It was an important contributor to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the Guangzhou 2009 Asian Games."