Life's a (Beijing) Beach

Ahh, summertime in Beijing: sweltering hot days, festering street food, increased cockroach activity, a cloud of smog hovering around the city, taxi cab rides with less-than-fragrant drivers, and of course, beach volleyball cheerleaders.

Beach volleyball cheerleaders? Wait a second here … while the rest of us have been wallowing in the summer heat over the past few weeks, the official beach volleyball stadium for the 2008 Olympics, replete with 17,000 tons of sand imported from Hainan, has been quietly taking shape in the northern end of Chaoyang Park.

Last weekend, cheerleader tryouts were held for the first event to take place at the new venue, the FIVB (Federation Internationale de Volleyball) Women’s Beach Volleyball Challenger, due to take place Monday, Aug 13 through Sunday Aug 19.

Pairs from from China, Brazil, Thailand, Canada, the Philippines, the US and several other countries will volley for USD 50,000 in prize money and valuable points to help them in their quest for a berth into the 2008 Olympics.

Most countries are not sending their premier duos, but the top matchups at Chaoyang Park should prove to be a potential meet between the two top-ranked pairs in the tourney, Heidi Ilustre and Diane Pascua of the Philippines and Ji Linjun (right) and Zhang Ying of China. Ji and Zhang will hope to avenge their loss to Ilustre and Pascua last May at the Singapore Women's Open.

Tickets for the event are a modest RMB 10 (nosebleed seats, preliminary rounds) to RMB 150 (good seats, finals) and can be purchased at the venue or via piao.com here (tickets via piao.com must be purchased more than 3 days in advance of the start of the event.) A full event schedule is available here.

Ogling of bikini-clad athletes and cheerleaders at the event is apparently officially endorsed, according to the organizer’s notes on the Etiquette of Beach Volleyball:

When watching the beach volleyball competitions, spectators should not only care about the results that who win the gold medals but also enjoy the matches, the pleasure that the nature, the physical beauty and sport provide. Spectators may yell and applaud for the good performance and release their wonderful feelings under the sun and on the beach. A sunny day is suitable for the competition. But spectators should use some protective lotion on the skin in order to prevent the ultraviolet radiation. It is necessary for watching the competition to wear sunglasses and bring drinks.

And for those of you so impressed by the irrepressible peppiness of the cheerleading squads on display at the tourney, no need to be jealous: you can be one too, if you've got the right stuff: Olympic cheerleader tryouts are currently underway nationwide (and the great news is that you don't even have to be sleeping with the quarterback of your school's football team to be eligible).

Organizers are seeking 200 "啦啦宝贝" ("lala babes") -- aka cheerleaders -- to be the official cheerleading squads for the Olympic Games next year. Preliminary competition rounds are taking place around the country from now through October, with the finals to take place in Beijing in December.

Should you feel so inspired, signups are open to all at the Chinese-language website DDUp (sorry laowai, no English version), both women as well as men, and individual performers as well as groups. On the site you can check out video clips of the contestants' routines and cast a ballot for your faves.

Meanwhile, it may come as a surprise to learn that sitting atop the 2007 Beach Volleyball World Rankings as of Aug 1 are not tandems from traditional powerhouses such as Brazil, the US or Australia, but two Chinese pairs: Tian Jia and Wang Jie (#1) and Xue Chen and Zhang Xi (#2).

Links and Sources:
FIVB: Beach Volleyball World Rankings 2007
Official 2008 Olympics Website: Beach volleyball cheerleaders get a first-hand experience of performing
Official 2008 Olympics Website: Final load of Olympic sand arrives in Beijing
Official 2008 Olympics Website: Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground
Good Luck Beijing: Etiquette of Beach Volleyball
Good Luck Beijing: Full Beach Volleyball event schedule
Good Luck Beijing: How to purchase tickets