To all the unicycling community. I just came back from China. Andy and Jack
Halpern are still there in meetings with Mr. Zhang and VIP of Sports from China.
In this E-Mail, I will give a general view. In future E-Mails I will provide
more details one event at a time. Please remember that there are meetings going
on now as I write. It is still a work in progress. The following information is
as of today and there can be changes and/or improvements.
Dates: From August 1-9,2000. There will be many tours available at extremely
low prices, so I suggest that you go a few days early and stay until a few
days later.
Hotel: Right in front of stadium. Nice hotel. Price probably around $34 a night
for a room for two persons. Chinese beds are harder than we are accustomed.
Food: They will be providing the food at very reasonable prices. I suggest that
you live the Chinese experience. But if somebody must press the panic button,
one of the 120 McDonald’s in China is next to the hotel. KFC and Popeye nearby.
Stadium. Large first class track and gym. Has been used in many international
events. Athletes can even have professional massages for a low tip. Many
spectator seats and they plan to fill them. Unihockey and unibasket will also be
held here.
MUNI: Excellent track. around two KMs from hotel. Was used in Panasiatic games
for mountain bicycling. Has been used in MotoCross (motorcycles). Nice hill with
many trees and view of city. If some of the MUNI people more interested in this
event can go a couple of days earlier, they will be able to participate in the
final design of the track. Since they probably will njot want to use all of the
track (over 5 km), they can fool around the rest of the track in the off days.
Marathon and Gliding. In same area as MUNI.
There is a metro station near the hotel that can take you to Tianamen Square,
the Forbidden City and other historic locations. They allow unis in the metros.
Over all, including airfare, we will end up paying more for this UNICON than for
other UNICONs that has been held closer to our countries. But this could be by
far the most exciting UNICON ever. We can visit China for much less than it
would cost us otherwise, with the advantage of having people from the govenment
helping us. What we will learn about China and their great civilization can
never be learned in school. We also will be able to interact with people from
other countries. Meet new international friends and renew old friendships.
In future E-Mails we will provide a link to the UNICON X homepages. You can also
ask questions in this group and Andy or I will personally answer them.
Alberto Ruiz IUF President