China's motor-city Changchun, Jilin Province, came into the spotlight for a reason other than cars this year as host of the Sixth Asian Winter Games.

The Winter Games, in terms of scale, resource input, facilities, infrastructure and influence, is the largest international sports event ever held in China, and serves as a warm-up for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Some Olympic Games' equipment was even used in the Winter Games, including an advanced information processing system. "It's a culmination of three years of effort by 1,000 technicians, and it is a guarantee for a successful 2008 Olympic Games," said Zhao Li, Director of the Information Center of the State Sports Administration.

"Changchun can offer some references for Beijing," added Ye Qiaobo, a two-time silver medal winner at the Winter Games, who was born in the city.

Over the past four years there has been huge investment in Changchun's infrastructure-including airports, railway stations, roads and telecommunications-to meet international standards in preparation for the Winter Games.

The city's authorities saved money where they could, using existing office buildings and housing the Games' media department in Changchun's fitness center. Transport for the competition was provided by local automaker FAW Group. And existing stadiums were rebuilt or expanded at a cost of 1.16 billion yuan.

"In the future these stadiums will be open to the public and able to support themselves by their direct yield," said Zhang Zhengming, Deputy Director of the Marketing Development Department of the Organizing Committee for the Sixth Asian Winter Games.

This Winter Games also reduced costs by attracting a number of large corporate sponsors including China Unicom, Bank of China and the Korean digital giant Samsung. These companies viewed the event as a marketing opportunity.

Estimates put the commercial value of advertising at the Winter Games at around 5.1 billion yuan. "That means the Games has brought much brand expansion and commercial influence for the event's partners and sponsors," said Zhong Bingshu, a professor with Beijing Sports University, who helped to carry out research on the competition's commercial value.

Commenting on the success of the Winter Games, Samih Moudallal, Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), said, "The Changchun Asian Winter Games Organizing Committee (CAWGOC) and the host city Changchun really did a good job, and we can conclude that the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be a great success and will produce the best Summer Olympiad ever, showcasing to the whole world what the Chinese are capable of doing."

He also believes the success of the Sixth Asian Winter Games is of great importance to the 45 regions that make up the OCA.

"Changchun did a good job in promoting the Asian Games all around Asia and surely Beijing will attract a bigger audience and promote the development of the Olympic Games," said Moudallal.

A clean game

The organizers of the Winter Games were tough on drug testing to ensure a clean event.

"Stimulant tests were quite strictly carried out following the world anti-stimulant drug conventions and treaties," said Zhao Xiaolu, one of the chief stimulant inspectors from CAWGOC.

Four stimulant-test stations were set up for the Sixth Asian Winter Games and examination staff included more than 140 employees from China and abroad.

"Drug tests completely followed international practices. Samples were all sent to the Chinese Stimulant Testing Center for examination," said Zhao.

China's drug testing capabilities have reached a world-class level, in line with requirements of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In April 2004, the British Standards Institution (BSI) issued a certificate to China for its stimulant control. "Since China's drug testing has been approved, it can conduct stimulant testing on behalf of the WADA," said Shi Kangcheng, Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

China does not tolerate stimulant abuse whether it be at the Winter Games or at national sporting events, emphasized the State Sports Administration. Relevant government departments in China completed Anti-doping Regulations on February 3, 2004, after more than 20 drafts were discussed and amended. The regulations took effect on March 1 that year. China is one of only a few countries that have raised anti-doping efforts to the level of government regulations.

Public enthusiasm

The people of Changchun were enthusiastic about hosting the Winter Games. "We were so proud to have such an international sports event held in our city," said Li Miao, a worker in Changchun.

During the event Changchun experienced two heavy snowfalls. More than 22,000 cleaners, soldiers and citizens worked overnight to clean up the roads for smooth transportation, which won much praise from the OCA.

"What impressed me most was the enthusiasm and support of the Changchun citizens for this icy sports event," said Moudallal. "The stadium was full for every match and the audience cheered for both the host teams and guest teams." It is estimated that the Winter Games attracted an audience of 200,000 with the stadiums at 90 percent capacity on average.

"It really surprised me that the audience there was so enthusiastic, which stimulated my passion and potential and helped me win the game," said Hu Ze, winner of men's 500 meter short track speed skating.

"Changchun citizens are always warmhearted and unconstrained, but sometimes they can be very careful," said reporters from Beijing Evening News, who went to Changchun to cover the game. The taxi drivers there would tell customers about anything in Changchun without leaving out a single detail.

Seventeen local taxi drivers volunteered to form a foreign language-speaking motorcade to serve foreign visitors. One of those drivers, Mr. Chen, said he speaks four languages. He learned Japanese from a radio class, picked up Russian through doing business in Russia for five years and is now studying English.

Of Changchun's 7.31 million population tens of thousands volunteered to help with the Winter Games. The 1,676 volunteers selected to work directly for the event were given basic foreign language and security training.

"Over one night 70,000 college students signed up to be volunteers, and the total number of college students is no more than 260,000," said Zhou He, who led volunteer work during the competition.

"Passion and enthusiasm, which are not exclusive to Changchun, are necessary for cities that hold large sports games," said Beijing Evening News reporter Kong Ning. "And I bet everyone in Beijing is picturing a successful Olympic Games in their minds."