Chinese delegation prepping for the real deal

Greater Victoria, with a population of 350,000, passes for a medium-size city in Canada.
But in China, with 115 cities of one million or over, medium-size equals Taiyuan and its population of 3.4 million.
Between them, the capital of British Columbia and the capital of Shanxi province will be the bookends for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics qualifying process in BMX. Olympic qualifying starts tomorrow at the new Juan de Fuca track when the elite riders race at the 2007 world championships. Qualifying closes at the 2008 world BMX championships next May in Taiyuan, which is perhaps fittingly a five-hour train ride from Beijing, which is considered a mere stone's throw by the vast-distance standards of China
Taiyuan vice-mayor, Gaosuo Yuan, is leading his city's delegation this week to check out how Victoria is doing things.
"We're very confident we can host a very successful world championships next year," said Yuan, through an interpreter.
"We've learned some things while here in Victoria that will help us locally for next year."
The biggest change from Victoria, which is hosting the 2007 worlds in the Western Communities, is that Taiyuan will stage the 2008 world championships more centrally in the main city park adjacent to the Fen River.
The delegation is being followed around Victoria by a crew from the local Taiyuan TV station, which is filing stories back home daily for broadcast on the nightly news.
"Victoria is clean and the people are extremely hospitable," is the consensus of Xin Liu, Fang Guo and Xuan Liu from the Taiyuan TV crew.
The UCI, cycling's world governing body, has attached its Swiss-based development chairman Yan Shi to all things related to competitive cycling in China in order to help Beijing prep for all Olympic cycling classes - road, mountain, track velodrome and BMX.
"Cycling in China has historically been more a means of transport than competitive sport, but with more and more cars in China, bikes are being regarded differently," said Shi, who has also accompanied the Taiyuan group to Victoria.
"Cycling as a sport has been introduced to China and is really coming up, thanks to the Olympics upcoming next year."
Vice-mayor Yuan said he considers it "more of a motivation than pressure" that his city is hosting the last BMX qualifier, indeed last event, before the sport makes its Olympic debut 600 kilometres down the road in Beijing.
"It is a big opportunity for us, leading to the Games," he said.
Taiyuan and Beijing may seem unlikely destinations for a hang-loose, rad sport that started with a bunch of California kids in the 1970s emulating on bikes their motocross heroes. But BMX is in the Olympics now. And starting in Victoria this week and heading across the Pacific, all routes lead to China next year.