11 travel 40,000 km in show of support

Eleven Chinese people living in Africa and Europe came up with their own special way to support the Beijing Olympic Games: driving Land Rovers more than 40,000 km and collecting signatures along the way from people who support the Games.

Hu Yan, a businessman in Botswana, is one of them.

"It took me more than a year to prepare for the trip," he said. "but it was worth the sacrifice, as we collected more than 10,000 signatures."

Hu stopped working for more than three months, handing over his business to a brother and a friend.

Sponsored by the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in Botswana, the trip, known as the Overseas Chinese Overland Challenge, started preparation work three years ago.

Those taking part were selected from countries in Africa and Europe.

They started from the southern most point of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, on Feb 26 and arrived in Beijing in late May.

"Although we live far from our motherland, we wanted to promote the Beijing Games," said Qian Guolin, another participant working in Nigeria,

Compared to the trip in Europe, the one in Africa was more memorable, Qian said.

They made stops in South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, and Kenya.

"When we stayed in each of these countries, we held promotions for the Olympic Games and collected signatures," Hu said.

Qian said most of the people in the African countries showed great enthusiasm for the Games.

"As a nongovernmental event, we received a very warm welcome from local governments and great support from the people”, he said.

Lin Danping, a reporter for Guangdong TV who covered the trip, said: "We met people in the streets of Zambia, who gave us the thumbs up and even said 'Beijing Jiayou' (cheers to Beijing) in Putonghua."

No athlete from Botswana has ever won an Olympic medal, however, it will still send a 11-member delegation to the Beijing Games.

Lin said the people in Africa have a great love for sports. He saw many youngsters playing football in their bare feet.

"I have invited a dozen Nigerian friends to attend the Beijing Games," Qian said.

A director of Guangdong TV's foreign program center, Tong Jinghong, said: "We learned from our trip how united overseas Chinese people are, and how passionate African and European people are about the Games."

Questions:

1. How many kms did they travel and what were they doing?

2. How many athletes are Botswana sending to the Olympics?

3. What African countries did they make stops in?

Answers:

1. Traveled 40,000 km’s collecting signatures.

2. 11.

3. South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.