Slow Road to China's Baseball Fields

To the trained eye, the Baseball Fields are beginning to take shape in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Slowly but surely wheel barrow by wheel barrow material is being placed on the fields.  Proving to many that moving 1500 tons of pea gravel over the sub base of the field without a bulldozer or grader can be done. There is a Chinese proverb that says " "Patience is power; with time and Patience the mulberry leaf becomes silk."   Although Specialized equipment may be a shortage in china ...labor and determination to succeed is not.  With only 4 months before the Test event in August any one showing up at the field and watching the process would have grave doubts if the fields will be ready.  There is still a lot of work to do. We need to install the warning tracks, infields, 10 inches root-zone for the turf , irrigation, mounds and plates  on 2 fields for the test event ....Then when construction is completed we need to train the crews on how to take care of the fields for the tournament.  Hopefully Mother nature will be kind to Mr. Chai and his crews so the mulberry leaf can turn into silk.  In this case... so the Riverea Bermuda seed we plant in mid May germinates and covers the field by August.  (Sod is not an option as there are no adequate farms)

Over the years I have learned that you need to have patience in dealing with baseball fields projects internationally.   One must rememeber in Athens they built monuments like the Acropolis, Parthenon etc... Here in china they built a 5000 mile wall across the mountains and are currently completing the largest dam in the world. We are talking about a baseball field!  Although a difficult task to those who do not understand the game, there history of construction puts things in perspective as you look at countries who host Olympic competitions.  Somehow things always work out.  Just takes patience...and some well very good fortune cookies.