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Outdoor pools tanked up for crowds

By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-25 07:57

Outdoor swimming pools in Beijing are busy preparing for their annual opening on June 1, praying for hotter weather and even hotter business.

The official opening time for outdoor swimming pools in the city is between June 1 and Aug 31. With the temperature rising, most pools are now speeding up their preparations, which includes clean-up projects, water filling and staff recruitment.

The average temperature had exceeded 22 C five days in a row by May 23, which is a sign that Beijing has officially stepped into summer, a week earlier than usual.

Qingnianhu Lake Water Park has been receiving phone calls from visitors since early May, regarding the opening time of their pools.

Yan Honglai, who is supervising the reopening of the pools, said they have finished the cleanup and have been filling them since Saturday.

"We need 3,000 liters of water to fill our pools, which will take us a week to complete," Yan told METRO on Monday, adding they've been filling the pools 24 hours a day.

Tuanjiehu Park started to fill its pools with water yesterday and expected to finish by Friday.

"We will start a trial opening on Saturday," a woman surnamed Gao from the park administration said.

She said that though the recent weather is seemingly helpful for her industry, it cannot guarantee booming business for the whole summer.

"The entire industry relies on heaven - the hotter the weather is, the better our business can be," she said.

Baolian Sports Park, which also has an outdoor swimming pool, said they usually start preparing about one week in advance and it takes three or four days to fill the pool.

Wu Yuanxiang, manager of the park, said though it is getting hotter, the golden time for outdoor swimming pools will not arrive until July.

"Most of our customers are students who want to have some fun during the summer vacation," Wu said.

She added that it is difficult to survive in a seasonal business, especially when it largely depends on weather conditions.

"We only operate three months a year; the swimming pool is empty for the other nine months. And finding enough staff is very challenging because few people will choose to do a short-term job," she said.