Petersburg participating in major investment project in Yelow Sea.

30/11 Tass 74

QINGDAO (Shandong province, East China), November 30 (Itar-Tass) - The
Grand Hotel Europe - the oldest in St. Petersburg - will have a twin in
the East Chinese city of Qingdao on the Yelow Sea coast.


An agreement was
signed here on Monday on the implementation of a project for the creation
of a hotel complex in the architectural style of the famous Petersburg
prototype. The Oriental Development and Consulting company will be engaged
in the project's implementation, the Petersburg-based company Hermitage is
doing the designing in cooperation with the well-known Spanish architect
Willy Muller.
"Our city is linked with Qingdao by twinned relations, the
construction of the 'Petersburg' hotel here will serve the development of
partnership relations between the two cities, promotion of contacts in the
sphere of culture, medicine and sports," head of the St. Petersburg office
in Qingdao Dmitry Novikov told Itar-Tass.
According to Qingdao mayor Xia Geng, the Chinese delegation having
visited St. Petersburg has so much been inspired by its beauty that it has
been decided to recreate a fragment of Petersburg architectural
development in the Huangdao district with wonderful beaches. The project
is meant to attract tourists, businesspeople from Russia and Europe.
Qingdao is a major city in eastern Shandong province, People's
Republic of China. It borders Yantai to the northeast, Weifang to the west
and Rizhao to the southwest. Lying across the Shandong Peninsula while
looking out to the Yellow Sea, Qingdao today is a major seaport, naval
base, and industrial center. It is also the site of the Tsingtao Brewery.
Qingdao is administratively at the sub-provincial level. In 2008, Qingdao
was named China's 7th-most liveable city.
The unique combination of German and Chinese architecture in the city
centre, combined with German demographic roots and a large Korean expat
population, gives Qingdao a distinct atmosphere. A larger number of areas
in former foreign styles are well preserved. Although the new city area is
under large-scale reconstruction, the old city area (especially Taixi)
still retains some traditional buildings.
Qingdao attracts many tourists due to its seaside setting and
temperate weather. Parks, beaches, sculpture and unique German and modern
architecture line the shore. For more information head over to the Qingdao
Information Centre for International Visitors located on Mid-Hong Kong
Road (Xianggang Zhong Lu).
Qingdao has long been a hub of professional sports in The People's
Republic of China. It has the stadiums - Qingdao second stadium, Qingdao
Hongcheng stadium, Qingdao Tiantai stadium, Qingdao Chengyang sports
training base, Qingdao Jiaonan Paper zoned rowing base.
Along with Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Qingdao was
the host city for the Olympic Sailing competitions which took place along
the shoreline by the city. These events were hosted at the Qingdao
International Sailing Centre and held in Fushan Bay, near the city's
central business district. A hotel and an international broadcasting
centre were built.
Qingdao Hainiu Football Club (former name of Qingdao Shengwen Jonoon
Football Club) was founded in 1993. They joined the first Chinese
professional football as a second-class league club in 1994. They got the
champion in their first season and were promoted to the top league (the
first two could be promoted). In 1995, they finished as 11th (total 12
teams, last two would be relegated) and was relegated from the top league.
In the next year, they got the runner-up in the second-class league and
came back to the top league. Till now, they have been playing in the top
league for 12 successive seasons.
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