Many outstanding Olympic champions like Athens Games men's 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang, women's table tennis player Deng Yaping, arguably the all-time great, and diving queen Fu Mingxia, winner of four Olympic gold medals, all used this quadrennial event as a platform en route to their world fame.
Before the Games was officially open on Sunday, finals of more than 40 events from eight sports, including softball, hockey, gymnastics and diving, have already concluded.
To ensure the Games a success, China has vowed tough anti-doping controls with more than 300 anti-doping staff. "We will adopt zero tolerance approach against doping and let them know fair play is much more important than getting good results," said Liu Peng, director of State General Administration of Sports.
A total of 1,190 tests will be conducted during the Games, 10 percent up over the last edition, and the blood test will also be included. Besides, a campaign of promoting anti-doping knowledge among youngsters has been launched in the athletes' village.
Apart from Nanchang, eight other cities of Jiangxi Province will play host to the Games' tournaments. Thirty-two stadiums and other facilities have been built or refurbished for the Games and 17 of them are located in the capital city.
The City Games was inaugurated in 1988.
