Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, will renovate its Wusu Airport to make it a standby airport for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, said a leading Shanxi provincial official.

"In cases of heavy fog making it difficult for planes to land in Beijing's Capital Airport, they can turn to the Wusu Airport," said Zhang Baoshun, secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Zhang, who is a deputy to the National People's Congress, said the Wusu Airport will be upgraded to meet the standards for landing and taking off of A380 planes.

Taiyuan has been chosen as a standby airport for Olympics because of its different weather conditions compared with Beijing, Zhang said during the annual NPC session in Beijing.

Beijing and Taiyuan are separated by the Taihang Mountains. A research report shows in most cases, Taiyuan enjoys clear sky when Beijing is foggy.

Zhang said a fast-speed railway will be built between Taiyuan and Shijiazhuang, which will join the Shijiazhuang-Beijing fast- speed railway.

It takes a passenger only three hours to travel from Taiyuan to Beijing by this railway, said Zhang.  

(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2006)