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As many as 86 young Chinese descendants from 31 countries and regions gathered at the Beijing National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube, on May 27, to show their support for Beijing's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The young attendees, who are participating in a tour event that takes them from Beijing to Tianjin, were first briefed about Beijing's efforts to win the bid for 2022 Winter Olympic Games, before visiting the Water Cube, which was one of the most celebrated venues of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Water Cube, a landmark building of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, was built with donations from 350,000 compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese, said Liu Chunfeng, director of the Beijing Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
Playing host to the Olympic Games is a dream that all Chinese people hold, both those on the mainland and abroad, Liu added, saying that he hopes that Chinese who are overseas can better understand Beijing and is also calling for young Chinese descendants to make efforts in supporting the joint bid by Beijing and the city of Zhangjiakou.
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Wang Hui, director of communications at the Beijing 2022 Bid Committee, delivers a speech. [Photo by Zhao Qian/chinadaily.com.cn] |
"As the living standard of the average Chinese citizen improves, people have also begun exercising more for health benefits, leading to dramatic rise in the number of people who take part in winter sports," said Wang Hui, director of communications at the Beijing 2022 Bid Committee. So if Beijing were to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, it could benefit the 300 million Chinese people who are expected to be involved in winter sports as well as providing many other opportunities and business advantages.
When talking about what advantages Beijing has in regards to hosting the Winter Olympics, Wang said Beijing needs to construct only one new venue--for speed skating-- since 11 others are already in place thanks to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. She also highlighted how all venues will be efficiently used after the Olympics for competition events or as public locations.
A representative of Chinese descendants, Lin Zhenhui, head of the Federation of Chinese Clan Associations of Malaysia, proposed an initiative to all Chinese young people from around the globe during the event. He called for all young people of Chinese origin to play a role in transmitting and embodying the Olympic spirit and to make their own efforts to help the joint bid by Beijing and Zhangjiakou.
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A representative of Chinese descendants, Lin Zhenhui, head of the Federation of Chinese Clan Associations of Malaysia, proposes an initiative to all young people of Chinese origin from around the globe.[Photo by Zhao Qian/chinadaily.com.cn] |
