The sand used to fill the beach volleyball court on the grounds of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) last year didn't come from the obvious nearby source at Pak Shui Wun beach. In fact, it arrived via a much longer route.
'A company on the mainland collects the sand from a river bed, cleans it and then exports it for special use - like a beach volleyball court,' said Victor Hui Chun-fui, president of the Volleyball Association of Hong Kong, China. The association donated the sand to HKUST after it was used for an international tournament at Victoria Park earlier this year. The rock powder then found its way to HKUST in 75 truckloads. 'It (the court) is 40 centimetres deep - and all of it came from China, via Victoria Park,' Hui said.
The court is even typhoon resistant - as proved by HKUST staff who rolled out a huge plastic cover last Wednesday during atrocious weather conditions.
'I took over an hour to roll it out and pin it down, but we had to save the sand,' said HKUST's Edward Au Yeung.
The multi-purpose court was used last year mostly for beach soccer, but on Saturday a volleyball net was installed.
The Hong Kong Schools Sports Federation announced recently that the court would be used for its first-ever inter-school beach volleyball tournament next May. A fun day was held there on Saturday which included a demonstration by Asian Games-bound pair Tong Lai-ming and Tang Ming-mei.