'Olympic sand' arrives in Beijing

BEIJING: Beijing has transported 1,400 tonnes of 'Olympic sand' as the first instalment from southern Hainan Province to prepare the venue for the beach volleyball event in 2008 Olympics.

The 1,400 tonnes of sand, carried in 59 trucks, has been offloaded at a construction site in Beijing's Chaoyang Park on Saturday, media reports said.

It is the first batch of 17,000 tonnes -- specially approved by the International Volleyball Federation -- to arrive at the park where the venue for the 2008 Olympics beach volleyball competition is under construction.

At a total cost of 10 million yuan (1.28 million U.S. dollars), each shipment will spend 12 days aboard a boat from Hainan to Tianjin Port in northern China and then trucked to Beijing.

The shipments are expected to be completed by mid-July, according to the Beijing Chaoyang Park Development Company, which is building the venue.

The sand from Dongfang City, Hainan, was carefully selected by the organising committee of the Games after considering several options.

"Olympic sand", which must conform to a set shape, size and colour, usually comes from Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

"Collected from local mines, the sand must undergo processing, including selection, washing and polishing," an engineer with the company said.

"It feels good, very thin and clean -- not sticky -- and it runs quickly through your fingers," a passer-by said after feeling the sand.