I took this photo a few days ago when we were walking on our way to some location. It is the countdown clock to the 17th Annual Jiangsu Provincial Summer Games. Later today we get to attend the opening ceremonies of these games. Our university has decided to give all of the foreign teachers tickets to the opening ceremonies. That’s a good thing as it is impossible to get tickets otherwise.
The stadium where we will watch these opening ceremonies is new. It wasn’t finished until the summer of 2008. We watched as it was being built the first two years we lived here in Changzhou.
This photo is a “borrowed” photo showing the extent of the facilities: the stadium on the right which seats about 40, 000 people, the arena on the left which seats about 6, 000 for basketball and other court sports, a swimming pool venue just behind the arena, and an exhibition centre which is attached to the arena. The arena and exhibition centre is where we took part in the international science and technology trade fair two weeks ago.
Another borrowed photo of the inside of the stadium. I can’t take my camera into the stadium this evening, so I will be using Maureen’s smaller digital camera which is allowed, for recording the event.