Chinese interest peaks over Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus could soon have a «sister mountain» in China’s Mt Tai, say authorities near Greece’s highest peak. Officials from the prefecture of Pieria and the Chinese province of Shandong intend to twin the mountains, promoting them together in a deal similar to the sister cities programs, in which two municipalities «adopt» each other mainly to increase tourism. Both Olympus and Tai are rich in history and culture. In mythology, Mount Olympus was home to the 12 most powerful gods while Mount Tai has a 3,000-year-old tradition of religious worship. Pieria has refurbished and expanded its hiking shelters on Mount Olympus and built three new ones in anticipation of more tourists. «The province of Shandong with a population of 92 million people is a very big tourist market,» said Prefect Giorgos Papastergiou.
