BBQs banned during Asian Games over pollution fears

After seven years of painstaking preparations, Guangzhou -- the southern city at the heart of China's economic miracle -- has reinvented itself and is ready for next month's Asian Games.Organisers say they hope the 2010 Asiad -- the world's second-largest sporting event after the Olympics -- will help the booming metropolis once known as Canton to join the ranks of the world's elite cities.

After seven years of painstaking preparations, Guangzhou -- the southern city at the heart of China's economic miracle -- has reinvented itself and is ready for next month's Asian Games.Organisers say they hope the 2010 Asiad -- the world's second-largest sporting event after the Olympics -- will help the booming metropolis once known as Canton to join the ranks of the world's elite cities.

China's anti-doping lab will test a record number of blood and urine samples at this month's Asian Games, and all Chinese athletes will be tested before the event begins, state press said Wednesday.Nearly 12,000 athletes from 45 nations and territories will participate in the November 12-27 Asiad -- the world's biggest sporting event after the Olympic Games -- in the southern city of Guangzhou.

Anyone who breaks a world record at this month's Asian Games will be rewarded with 10,000 US dollars, organisers have announced.They will also get a jade trophy under an initiative called the Mount Kunlun World Record Award for the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games."I'm very glad the organising committee has set up such an award to encourage the Asian athletes," said Cai Zhenhua, China's Vice Sports Minister."I hope the Chinese athletes will do well and break world records at the Games."

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou launched traffic restrictions Monday aimed at taking half of the city's vehicles off the roads to ease its notorious traffic jams for this month's Asian Games.Guangzhou -- which sits in the Pearl River Delta, the hub of China's export-oriented "workshop of the world" -- will host the Games from November 12-27.Cars in the city are banned from roads from 7am until 8pm on alternate days based on the last digit of the license plate, the city government said in rules posted on its website.

Japan plans to send its biggest ever team of athletes to the Asian Games in November after an expansion of the regional Olympics programme, a report said Wednesday.The Japanese Olympic Committee estimates it will send at least 680 athletes to the quadrennial Games in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in November, the Sankei newspaper reported.The number is expected to rise even further as the committee will negotiate with national federations governing three sports making their Asiad debut -- cricket, roller sports and dragon boat -- the daily said.

The Asian Games officially open with a glitzy gala ceremony on Friday, culminating years of planning for a massive event that is set to reinforce China's regional sporting dominance.The extravagenza heralds the most ambitious Asiad so far with more than 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and territories angling for gold in 42 sports.The Games run until November 27, with hosts China heavily favoured to top the medal table, with South Korea and Japan battling for second place.

The Asian Games officially open with a glitzy gala ceremony on Friday, culminating years of planning for a massive event that is set to reinforce China's regional sporting dominance.The extravagenza heralds the most ambitious Asiad so far with more than 14,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and territories angling for gold in 42 sports.The Games run until November 27, with hosts China heavily favoured to top the medal table, with South Korea and Japan battling for second place.