OLYMPICS/ Spotlight
It's ready, go for Games in Shanghai
(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-28 14:12
The 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games opens next Tuesday in Shanghai.
The event has attracted more than 10,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities, 20,000 officials, celebrities and sponsors, as well as 1,000 journalists from more than 160 nations and regions.
An athlete holds aloft the "Flame of Hope" before the start of the Dalian leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run on Sept 27 in Dalian, Liaoning Province. [China Daily] |
A reception, under the Host Town Program, will be held today for participants. China Daily reporter Wang Zhenghua takes you on a tour of how the special guests will live, dine, have fun and interact with the local residents.
In the newly spruced-up rooms, a green arrow is stuck on the ceilings pointing to the west.
According to Li Fuming, rooms division manager at Shanghai's Rendezvous Merry Hotel, these signs are precisely positioned with the help of a compass, to face in the direction of Mecca, and is for the benefit of Muslims who wish to pray.
On a bedside table is a detailed fasting timetable for Ramadan highlighting the times of sunrise and sunset.
"We want to guarantee the customs and religions of the special guests are respected," Li said. His hotel will house 65 athletes and coaches - all Muslims - from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
A total of 96 hotels across the city will accommodate the athletes, coaches, officials and visitors. Staff at all the hotels have been trained to cater to the special needs of the athletes.
The hotels have been awarded certificates by the executive committee of the Games following a stringent inspection. Glasses have been replaced with plastic or paper cups, windows refitted, air-conditioners cleaned, and potentially dangerous electrical appliances such as driers, irons and kettles have been removed to guarantee safety. All essential amenities will be provided by hotel staff.
At Li's hotel, a well-trained task force is ready to provide quality service for the guests during their nine-day stay. "We have had a number of meetings and rehearsals to eliminate every possible work problem," Li said.
"We have put in a lot of time and effort to see that everything goes smoothly," the hotel's chairman, Lu Chun, said.
Lu said the athletes and coaches will be accommodated on the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th floors of the 28-storey building, which is situated in a quiet locality, not from the Games' site. In line with the requirements of Special Olympics International, two athletes will share a room equipped with two single beds.
To avoid athletes mistakenly using each other's items, beds, glasses, towels, toothbrushes and slippers are marked with different logos and colors. The glass walls in bathrooms are labeled with a red ribbon for the convenience of visually impaired athletes. Water for bathing will be no hotter that 45 degrees Celsius.
The hotel has pasted fruit symbols on room doors instead of numbers, to guide athletes.
Hotel staff will provide 24-hour service on each floor. They have been told to pay special attention to unusual sounds and alert volunteers or delegation members if athletes step out of their rooms at night alone. The staff have also been taught to greet their guests in Arabic. Employees are trained to be able to greet in simple Arabian. A clinic has been set up on the 8th floor of the hotel.
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