Over 50 compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan toured the construction site of the National Aquatics Center, a major venue for the 2008 Olympic Games on Sunday.

Many of the visitors are members of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who are in Beijing to attend the committee sessions.

The center, to be used for swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming events, is the only Olympic project to be funded by the donations from overseas Chinese.

Committee member Liang Simou brought about donations of four Hong Kong compatriots. He said he mobilized over 30,000 people to donate for the project. "We want to get our descendants know that people of our generation made contributions to the nation, an action teaching them to be patriots," he said.