Beijing, China, August 16, 2007 - With pollution likely to be loose ends for a perfect Olympics, the transparent air and blue skies overseeing the FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's Challenger recently are obviously agreeable to the eyes of the players and spectators.

American player Rosalinda Masler gave thumbs up to the environment at the venue. "We are from Hawaii, it is quite clean there. We know big cities are always troubled by pollution, and we heard a lot about that of Beijing before coming here, but it is pretty nice so far," she said after Wednesday's loss to China's Shen Rongrong/Guo Qian. "Today is the worst day, but it won't affect us. We enjoyed the match and the venue at night."

Exhaust discharged by vehicles is a major source of pollution in the capital. In order to improve the traffic and pollution further, the Beijing Authorities are going to ban the use of about 1.3 million automobiles for four days this month to test the effects of this move on environmental quality. The city plans to adopt this practice to ensure clean air during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

About 17,000 tons of fine-grained sand costing around one million dollars was shipped into Chaoyang Park in eastern Beijing, making it the biggest beach volleyball stadium in China.

"I heard the sand was shipped from South China's Hainan province, it must be expensive and of good quality," Malaysian Beh Shun Thing said. "Stones and leaves are a headache in beach volleyball competition as it will affect players' performance and even hurt feet, but here it is no problem. The sand is pure."

"This is the most beautiful stadium we have ever seen. The Olympics are going to be excellent."

Canadian Line Jomphe was also positive about the Olympic venue at Chaoyang Park, where 24 teams compete in the challenger event following exactly the Olympic formula.

"The venue is amazing and the sand is good," Jomphe gave the same comments just like many other players visiting the place. "Compared with the natural sand along the beach, the sand here is softer so it feels comfortable while jumping and moving, although it is a little bit harder to jump."

"It is big to be an Olympic venue and the spectators are close enough for us to feel their passion," she added.

Jomphe and partner Barbara Carson were seeded ninth and have already through to the round of 16 after winning two matches.

The competition is one of 42 test events planned for Beijing Olympic venues to assess preparations for the August 8-24 Games next year.  (www.fivb.org)