However, agreement was finally reached, largely due to Hong Kong's highly qualified horse raising skills and the city's long equestrian history.

Horse racing is the only contest in the Olympic Games in which people team up with an animal. The FEI requires a high standard of health care for horses taking part in the event, which are worth millions of yuan each. This posed an obstacle for Beijing, as the city's equestrian facilities are below an international standard.

Usually, a host city needs to set up a quarantine zone, within 35 square km of which animals like horses, pigs, cows and goats are prohibited.

In the beginning, the BOCOG wanted to stage the equestrian events in the suburban Shunyi District, but the area lacked facilities. Once that option was deemed unsuitable, organizers began to look at Hong Kong.

Except for a short outbreak of herpes infecting 132 horses in the city from last February to April, the city's racehorses have been free of epidemic diseases for decades.

According to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the herpes epidemic will not impact the test equestrian competition to be held in August. Horses affected by the original epidemic have all recovered, it said.

Hong Kong is well prepared to cope if there is a disease outbreak, with a number of laboratories approved by the FEI, that were used for re-testing assignments during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Those tests were conducted under video camera surveillance in case of cheating. The Hong Kong laboratories carry out around 17, 000 tests a year, and in 36 years, there have been no incorrect diagnoses made. There are also veterinary stations in the Sha Tin Racecourse, the main site of the coming Olympic equestrian contest.

With modern facilities and advanced health care techniques for horses, Hong Kong distinguishes itself as a prominent equestrian cultural zone. Horse race betting is everywhere in Hong Kong, and equestrian analysis is printed in almost every newspaper. One third of Hong Kong's population are horse racing fans.

This year has witnessed a doubling in the number of jockeys in Hong Kong compared with last year, to 3,000.

People's zeal is not focused on horse racing alone. There is also increasing excitement over the Olympic Games. "Besides promoting Olympic spirit and athleticism, the Olympic Games also bring Hong Kong people closer to their motherland," said Fok.

For the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong held programs designed to bring local people closer to the mainland, and reactions have been unexpectedly enthusiastic. More than 10,000 applicants competed for 1,800 voluntary vacancies for the coming equestrian test competition as well as the Olympic Games. Nine out of 10 of them were local residents.

"Hong Kong people hope to hold an excellent Olympic equestrian competition to charm the world," said Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. "We expect an unprecedented equestrian contest in line with Beijing's Olympic theme ‘One World, One Dream.'"

Golf course

Enthusiasm for the Games has not blocked rational decision-making. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government decided to use the existing Sha Tin Racecourse as the main site for equestrian events under the suggestion of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. There are also neighboring clubs, horsemanship schools and a golf course that will be used for the Games.

It seems a little crazy to build a 6-km racetrack on a golf course, and still keep the course in normal operation, but Hong Kong people have their own innovative ideas. The racetrack, built under the path of the course driving range, brought little disturbance to the daily games of golf.

The Olympic equestrian site aims to retain the natural scenery around Sha Tin Racecourse. According to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, 51 trees have been cut down during construction and 500 have been planted.

The site will be equipped with 19,000 seats, but all of them will be removed after the Games to restore the area's original tranquility.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government requires the project to be completed before March next year when there is seasonal breeding for a number of egrets settling in the central park located in Sha Tin Racecourse.