A delegation consisting of 20 senior officials and experts of sports arrived at Xiamen Olympic Museum for an inspection visit on the morning of May 23, 2009, including Ms. Hu Jiayan, Vice-President of the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sports of China, and Mr. Jiang Xiaoyu, Executive Vice-President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). Under the guidance of Mr. Li Xiang, Deputy Director of Xiamen Olympic Museum, the delegation visited the whole museum.

In the hall, the guarding treasure of the museum “Heaven Jade” which was discovered at the bottom of Yangtse River won great admiration from the team members. Afterwards, the members were attracted by 13 sets of typical costumes used in the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are now being exhibited in the major exhibition hall on the second floor of the museum. When coming to the exhibition space of International Paralympics, the delegation showed great interests towards the Ambassador of the Museum Mr. Hou Bin. After learning the story of Hou Bin, they spoke highly of Hou’s courage and mentioned that Hou Bin could be a very good example for the students in the education programs. Mr. Jiang Xiaoyu also mentioned that he had given some instructions to Hou Bin on his preparations for the lighting ceremony for 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. After visiting the museum, the delegation spoke highly of the museum’s unique architecture style and its abundant collections, and also expressed their admiration for the great contributions made by Director Ching-Kuo Wu to 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 

Moreover, Mr. Li Xiang made an introduction of the museum’s operation status to the delegation. He mentioned that since the museum’s opening on 11 February 2008, it has received more than 10,000 visitors from Taiwan. On the occurrence of some important events, such as, the re-opening of Direct Flight across the Taiwan Strait and Strait Forum, lots of Taiwan officials and non-public delegations come to visit Xiamen Olympic Museum, which has greatly promoted cross-strait sports and culture exchanges. Besides, the students from mainland China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia have benefited a lot from the visit to the museum which is dedicated to the promotion of the Olympic cultures and sprits.

 

Mr. Jiang Xiaoyu showed his high appreciation towards the museum. He says that the foundation of this Olympic museum by Director Ching-Kuo Wu, with such an abundant collection, plays an important role in the development of the Olympic movement as well as the Cross-Strait exchanges. Meanwhile, he also recommends that the museum should consider collecting books on Olympics, which will not only enrich the museum collections, but also facilitate its culture construction.

 

Mr. Li Xiang expressed his gratitude to Mr. Jiang Xiaoyu for his precious suggestions.