XI'AN, China, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Xianyang, the capital city of the ancient Qin Dynasty, will hold the 16th Shaanxi Provincial Games from August 16-21, the city's Sports Bureau announced here on Friday. A total of 13,000 athletes will compete in the provincial games.
The athletes are divided into two groups, the youth group and the industrial group. The youth group will compete in 20 events, while nine events are set aside for industrial group participants. Xianyang, one of the host cities of the 14th Chinese National Games in 2021, built a brand new stadium for the tournament.
The stadium resembles an ancient cauldron (Ding), a symbol of the imperial dynasty. It was built under international standards and will hold more tournaments after these games end. The city also built a Chinese-zither shaped swimming pool in the Xianyang Vocational & Technical College.
The pool will be open to the public after the tournament. "We will have a remarkable, frugal and excellent provincial tournament," said Jia Donglin, the chief of the Xianyang sports bureau. "We'd like to gain experience ahead of the national games in 2021 through the upcoming event," Jia added.
