The 11th National Games is set to be China's largest and most high-profile sporting event since the country's hugely successful staging of the Beijing Olympic Games. With a little over seven months to go before the event's opening ceremony, venues across China are gearing up to ensure the event matches the success of its 2008 predecessor.

Nowhere is this activity more pronounced than in Shandong, the east coast Chinese province that will be the setting for the majority of the event's 33 competitions. Huang Sheng, the vice-governor of Shandong and deputy-director of the event's organizing committee, is confident that everything is on course to ensure its success.

He said: "With months still to go before the opening of the 11th National Games, our preparation work is in full swing. We are aiming to ensure that the National Games is a huge success."

The National Games will feature 33 sports and 360 disciplines with the majority taking place in some 17 cities spread across Shandong. Only the marathon and winter sports events, scheduled to take place in Beijing, Liaoning and Jilin, were held and will be held outside the province.

Jinan, the capital city of Shandong, is the lead venue for the event. More than 40 teams of over 10,000 athletes are expected to converge on the city before October 11, when the two-week event kicks off. Teams from all across China, including the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Hong Kong and Macao, are expected to compete in the event.

Aside from the athletes, at least 35,000 additional people - judges, coaches, the media and spectators - are expected to attend the events.

Huang says the province is more than ready to handle this sudden influx: "Shandong aims to be world class in terms of venue facilities, organization, environment, atmosphere, efficiency and security. We also intend to stage the best possible sporting spectacle."

Since the preparations began in 2005, 42 purpose-built venues have been constructed and further 85 have been refurbished and upgraded. Part of the event's legacy for the province will be a raft of sporting facilities available for public use, including 157 gyms and 20,000 rurally-sited exercise centers.

Following a national competition, "Taishan Boy" was adopted as the official mascot of the games. The chosen image shows a red and white clad sporting cartoon figure resembling the craggy outline of Mount Taishan, one of Shandong's most sacred peaks.

Plans are already well-advanced for the event's opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the Olympic-style torch relay that will precede its formal commencement. Organizing teams, focusing on vital issues such as facility management and drug testing, are already in place. A steering committee for each of the 33 individual events has also been appointed.

As well as catering to the needs of those on-site, the event's organizing committee has also ensured access for the millions that will be watching the event worldwide. Sports fans will be able to enjoy extensive television coverage of the games and be able to catch up with anything they've missed via its dedicated website.

To date, the local government has generated more than 400 million yuan worth of sponsorship and support for the event. This funding will be used to fund a number of supporting initiatives for the sporting gala, including volunteer recruitment, healthcare facilities and improved transport access. This will include 170 projects aimed at improving the city's infrastructure and environment.

Huang said: "The coming months are crucial in terms of preparation. The Shandong provincial government will put every effort into meeting the requirements of the event. We are confident that it will be a huge success."

(China Daily March 10, 2009)