For the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, a total of thirty-seven venues were used. Events took place at eleven pre-existing venues, twelve new venues constructed for the Olympics, and eight temporary venues that were removed following the games. In addition, six venues outside Beijing hosted events, two of which were newly built for the Olympics. Beijing won its bid to host the 2008 Olympics on 13 July 2001. The first new venues to begin construction were the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

Beijing National Aquatics Center The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China. The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the ...

Beijing Shooting Range Hall The Beijing Shooting Range Hall () is a shooting hall located in Shijingshan District, Beijing. It hosted the qualifying rounds and finals of ten shooting sports events at the 2008 Summer Olympics, consisting of all 10-, 25- and 50-metre events. I ...

, and the

Laoshan Velodrome The Laoshan Velodrome () is a velodrome that is located in Laoshan, Shijingshan District, Beijing, China. It was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The venue was tested during the UCI Track World Cup in December 2007. The velodrome hosted Cyclin ...

, where major work commenced in December 2003. By May 2007, construction had begun at all of the Beijing venues for the games. Approximately RMB¥13 billion (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.9 billion) was spent to build and renovate the venues. Several venues were located at the

Olympic Green The Olympic Green () is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang District, Beijing, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition street race of the FIA GT1 World Championship in ...

Olympic Park. The largest venue at the games in terms of

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

was the

, also known as the Bird's Nest, which had a capacity of 91,000 at the time and was the site for the opening and closing ceremonies. The smallest venue in terms of seating capacity was the temporary

Laoshan Mountain Bike Course The Laoshan Mountain Bike Course () is a mountain bike cycling venue located in western Beijing, China adjacent to the Laoshan Velodrome. It began its renovation and expansion program in May 2006. The course hosted the mountain bike competitions ...

, which had a capacity of 2,000.

Venues

Olympic Green

Universities and gymnasiums

New competition venues

Existing competition venues

Stadium of Beijing Institute of Technology

Temporary competition venues

Competition venues outside Beijing

Notes

1. Both the Urban Road Cycling Course and the Qingdao International Sailing Center did not have spectator seating, and therefore no capacities are listed in this table. Spectators for events held at these venues could observe events held in them from regular pedestrian areas such as sidewalks.

References

External links

Olympic Venue Distribution overlay on Google Maps
– Unofficial overlay on satellite imagery.
Overlay on MSN Maps
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2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Buildings and structures in Beijing Beijing-related lists Sport in Beijing

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...