The coast city of Qingdao, Shandong province, held a press conference in Beijing on Dec 15th, announcing that the city will dispatch a sailing ship called China Qingdao to revisit the Maritime Silk Road in March 2015, which is expected to promote communication in sports, tourism and culture with countries and regions along the route, and bring Qingdao's advantages in sailing into full play.

Heading the sailing team will be Guo Chuan, a Qingdao native, who became the first man to complete a nonstop circumnavigation of the globe, and Song Kun, China's first female sailor to complete a yearlong voyage around the globe in the 40,000-mile Clipper 2013-14 Round the World Yacht Race. It consists of a 34-meter-long trimaran, a French-made Beneteau F40 yacht and a safeguard ship. The team is scheduled to set sail from Qingdao in March 2015, calling at Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It will sail along the Maritime Silk Road, stopping over Singapore, Sri Lanka's Colombo, India's Bombay, Egypt's Alexandria, the UK's Southampton and finally Holland's Rotterdam.

The Qingdao government will strengthen exchanges with the sailing association of the port of call and will promote Qingdao's strength in sailing through launching a press conference, a welcoming ceremony and a sailing ceremony.