He said some of the team coaches went to support Holland in the pre-Olympic ING Cup football tournament at Hong Kong Stadium. Holland won the tournament, which also included Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and the United States.

Hong Kong is best known as an international business and financial center, but it is fast earning its stripes as Asia's world city for sports.

The Honorary Secretary General of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Pang Chung said Hong Kong's global exposure and similar climatic conditions made it the very best training and acclimatization base for athletes preparing to start competition for the Beijing games.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the HKSAR government has been working hard to make the visiting teams' stay in Hong Kong as smooth as possible through its "Hong Kong - Ideal Training Base for 2008 Beijing Olympics" program.

LCSD Director Thomas Chow said there were altogether 16 national sports teams that were conducting, or will conduct, training in Hong Kong to prepare for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"LCSD has been pleased and honored to offer assistance to teams looking for help in arranging accommodation, training facilities and transportation," Chow said.

Although much of the pre-Olympic training takes place away from the glare of the media, hockey - a popular sport in Hong Kong - has been drawing the crowds with teams from New Zealand, Britain and Canada playing Olympic warm-up games at the Hong Kong Football Club.

New Zealand's men's and women's hockey teams are based in Hong Kong along with the men's team from Canada. They share the state- of-the-art training facilities at the Football Club.

The University of Hong Kong, the city's oldest university, also happens to be the home to some of the newest and best sports facilities in town, making the venue a huge draw card for overseas teams using Hong Kong as their pre-Olympic training base.

Track and field teams from Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Fiji and Vanuatu, as well as a multi-sports team from Austria, and Trinidad and Tobago's swimming squad are all making the most of the university's extensive facilities.

Some teams have taken up residence on campus during their stay in Hong Kong, while other squads are staying at nearby hotels before moving on to Beijing for the ultimate challenge.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)