The Olympic Green () is an Olympic Park in Chaoyang District,

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 ...

, China constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then, the streets around the park have been used for an exhibition

street race Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles i ...

of the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011, after a race at Goldenport Park Circuit in the vicinity. It again served as an Olympic Park when Beijing hosted the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Bei ...

Venues

Beijing National Stadium

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, ...

() or "Bird's Nest" () is the centerpiece of this project. It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, and football finals of the Games. The stadium has room for 91,000 spectators, but the capacity was reduced to 80,000 after the Olympics. It also served as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the

Beijing National Aquatics Center

The

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 ...

() or "Water Cube" () hosted the swimming, diving and

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

events. It has a capacity of 6,000 (17,000 during the 2008 Olympics)and is located next to the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. It will be the site of the curling competitions during the

Beijing National Indoor Stadium

The Beijing National Indoor Stadium () or "the Fan" held the handball,

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and

trampolining Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more c ...

events. With a capacity of 19,000, it was the main indoor arena used during the Games.

Beijing National Speed Skating Oval

The

Beijing National Speed Skating Oval The National Speed Skating Oval (The Ice Ribbon) is a speed skating arena which is the only new venue built on Beijing's Olympic Green for the Winter Olympics. It hosts the speed skating competitions at the 2022 Winter Olympics. It was built on ...

is an arena that was built for the

Olympic Green Convention Center

The Olympic Green Convention Center, also called the National Convention Center (), held

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

and, the shooting and fencing disciplines of the

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic sport consisting of fencing (sport), fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, show jumping, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by t ...

. It is also used as the International Broadcast Center and the Main Press Center (for conventions and exhibitions). The center covers an area of 270,000 square meters.

Olympic Green Hockey Field

The Olympic Green Hockey Field hosted the

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shootin ...

events. It covered an area of with 2 courts and could seat 17,000 spectators. It was deconstructed after the Games.

Olympic Green Archery Field

The Olympic Green Archery Field hosted the archery events. The field occupied and had a capacity of 5,000. It was dismantled after the Games.

Olympic Green Tennis Center

The Olympic Green Tennis Center () hosted the

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

and wheelchair tennis events. It has 16 courts (10 competition, 6 practice) and a capacity of 17,400. It opened on October 1, 2007.

Promenade

The park itself, outside of the venues constructed on the Olympic Green, hosted some of the athletic events at the 2008 Games. These included the racewalk events, where the loops occurred on the Olympic Green, and the portion of the marathons just outside the National Stadium.

Other parts

Olympic Village

The Summer Olympic Village housed all the participating athletes. The village is made up of 22 6-story buildings and 20 9-story buildings.

Digital Beijing Building

The Digital Beijing Building served during the Games as the data center. It was the only building on the Green at the time of the Olympics that was not an event venue. Since then it has been converted into a museum of the Digital Olympics and exhibition space for digital technology companies. Chinese architect Pei Zhu designed the distinctive , 11-story building near the Aquatic Centre and Convention Center. At the time of the Games, it was the only major facility designed by a Chinese architect. It is meant to explore the relationship between digital forms and traditional Chinese aesthetics, meant to evoke a microchip from two of its

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means 'frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

s and a bar code from the other two.

Ling Long Pagoda

The Ling Long Pagoda or Linglong Tower (''Multifunctional Studio Tower'') (玲珑塔) houses a part of the International Broadcast Center (IBC). It is located near the

2008 Summer Olympics cauldron The 2008 Summer Olympics cauldron is the Olympic flame holder that was used during the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. It was first lit on August 8, 2008, as part of the opening ceremony of the Games of the ...

, on the northwest side of the Bird's Nest Stadium.Official Beijing 2008 site
Ma Guoli: High definition signals to enable superb Olympic broadcasting
, October 24, 2007

Beijing Olympic Tower

Olympic Park Observation Tower over trees, Beijing

Completed and opened in 2014, the

Beijing Olympic Tower The Beijing Olympic Tower () is located on Kehui South Road, part of the Olympic Green in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, China. Construction began in 2011, three years after the 2008 Summer Olympics; it was completed in 2014, and opened on A ...

's five circular roofs are meant to evoke the Olympic rings; although it has also been described as "a huge nail". The design of the towers themselves were inspired by blades of grass. It is the sixth tallest observation tower in China and the 22nd highest in the world. Visitors can look out over the park and the entire city of Beijing from all five platforms, ranging from in height.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 40, 00, 10.91, N, 116, 23, 12.01, E, region:CN-11_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title 2008 Summer Olympics 2022 Winter Olympics Chaoyang District, Beijing Olympic Parks Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics Venues of the 2022 Winter Olympics Parks in Beijing Sports venues in Beijing Sports complexes in China