Beijing sports trial run for Olympics with student games

How Beijing handles the 21st university games, beginning today, is being seen as a test of how the capital might cope with the Olympic Games in 2008.

Three years' preparation have gone into traffic flow, guest hospitality and many other elements for the Universiade - a competition for 7,000 athletes from 160 countries. Co-ordinators and people around the sports venues say everything has gone smoothly so far.

People aged 17 to 28 will compete in 150 different events, including gymnastics, swimming, soccer and volleyball. All but a few hundred athletes are from outside China, and they arrived in Beijing over the past week.

The gradual arrival gave police, stadium staff and 40,000 volunteers a chance to get into position to guide athletes' buses, help register reporters, find hotel rooms for guests and answer questions about the event. The volunteers also sponsor a telephone information hotline.

People around the games venues say things also have gone smoothly because the athletes from 160 foreign countries live, eat, train and rest in full-service village apartments, a gated area inside the National Olympic Centre set apart from the daily life of Beijing.

Things were almost too active in the village, said a Tianjin University student who trained instead at a pool outside the venue.