BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Cheerleaders who have been training at the beach volleyball venue of Chaoyang Park in eastern Beijing said Tuesday that they hoped their dances during the Olympic tournament would entertain the audience and create revelry atmosphere.

    The bikini-clad girls and fan-pleasant event are believed to be a major attraction to the Chinese audience as many seldom have the chance to watch beach volleyball match, a sport only introduced to the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.

    The dancing team, consists of more than 30 Chinese girls and six Spanish, has been under training for five hours per day. Coach Cao Sen said that the cheerleaders have made great improvement since training started in Hebei province one month ago.

    "Our performance aims to amuse the spectator and bring fun to them," said Cao, 28, a teacher from the Beijing Sport University.

    Cao said dancing on the sand is more difficult than on the ground and the girls need to concentrate on their performance.

    Yang Mengjia, a university junior student from southern Guangdong province, said that she had been a member of such a team for the Chinese Basketball Association.

    "Dancing on the sand is so much fun and I already fell in love with it," the 22-year-old said.

    Another girl from the Beijing Agricultural College said that she felt lucky to able to dance during the Beijing Olympics. "My parents support me and they already booked tickets for the beach volleyball match," she said.

    Spanish Patricia Rancel said that she and her teammates arrived in the Chinese capital last Friday. "I like the environment here as well as the Chinese food," she said.

    From the moment it made the debut as a medal sport in 1996, beach volleyball has been one of the most popular spectator sports at the Olympics. On Bondi Beach in 2000, it attracted the fifth largest television audience of the 28 Olympic sports in the Sydney Games.

    The beach volleyball preliminaries in Beijing run through Aug. 9 to 14, followed by elimination matches until Aug. 22. Top teams from each pool and two best third-placed teams advance to the top 16.