You play volleyball on a beach. A beach of good sand. During the Australian Olympics it was Bondi Beach and much attention was paid to getting the playing area into perfect order. Same is happening in for the 2008 Olympics although it is Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, Beijing, rather than Bondi. The sand is being laid on the 20,000-square-meter space and there are 10,000 tons of it.

Canadian expert Todd Knapton is satisfied with the sand — from Dongfang City in Hainan Province — and the way it has been laid. The sand was also found suitable by the International Volleyball Federation for the 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women’s Challenger scheduled for August 13-19, 2007, a test event for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. For that event half of the ground, 10,000 square meters, is being used and the venue should be up and running next week.

The Challenger is one of the 26 ‘Good Luck Beijing’ sports events to be held this year which allow the organizers of the Beijing Olympics to see that it all works.
Source: China Olympics