Excitement in Beijing

Excitement in Beijing

There are still five days left before FC Barcelona arrive in Peking, but already the expectation is sky high in the Chinese captial as events planned both on and off the pitch continue to excite the locals.According to the local media, the visit of the Blaugranas 'is the most important social event with a foreign organisation in China this year'.

The visit of the Catalan club is in collaboration with Deng Pufang, the eldest son of the historical former leader of China, Dend Xiaoping. Pufang is the president of the Chinese Disabled Federation, which he helped found in 1988, that counts around 60 million people as members. In 2003, he received the United Nations Human Rights Prize for his work in protecting the rights of disabled people in China. Two years later, Pufeng was awarded the Paralympic Order by the International Paralympic Committee. Guests of honour This collaboration will be celebrated at a charity gala, that will include guests from numerous groups such as the Ministry for Education, Civil Matters, Health and Sport, among others. Huge audience The broadcast of this event is set to be spectacular and will reach far more people than equivalent occasion in Europe. In fact, this gala is due to be broadcast live to the whole of China and 150 foreign countries.

In total, three television channels will cover the event: Phoenix Satellite TV, CCTV 5 and Beijing TV. The dinner will also carry the official support of the Chinese Communist Party. This event will take place in the days prior to the first game of Barça's Far East tour, which takes place against Beijing Guoan on August 5 in the Beijing Fengtai Stadium. The Blaugrana will be the only team to play in the stadium prior to the Olympic Games next year. Musical performances The number one Chinese tenor, Liao Changyong, will sing the Olympic hymn from the games in Barcelona in 1992 at the gala in recognition of the Ciutat Contal's hosting and to show the collaboration between the two cities ahead of next year's event in Beijing. The famous Chinese singer Wei Wei will also perform some of her latest hits that were recorded a few months ago in the facilities at FC Barcelona and saw several players take part.
Charitable auction
As well as the collaboration between Chinese sports fans and the Barça party at the dinner, a competition with disabled people trying to keep up a balloon with their head and feet is also planned. The proceeds raised from the challenge and an auction will go towards educational programmes for disabled people in western China, the poorest part of the country.