The original Workers' Stadium (; often abbreviated as Gongti or ) was a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

in Chaoyang,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China. The stadium was built in 1959, and was renovated in 2004 (the concrete structure strengthened, a new rotating display screen and energy-saving devices installed). The stadium was demolished in 2020 and reopened under the same name on 15 April 2023 as a new stadium built on the original site. It had a capacity of 65,094 and covered a land area of . It was one of the Ten Great Buildings constructed in 1959 for the tenth anniversary of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

History

The stadium was the main venue for the

1990 Asian Games ) , nations = 31 , athletes = 6,122 , events = 308 in 27 sports , opening = 22 September 1990 , closing = 7 October 1990 , opened_by = Yang Shangkun , closed_by = Roy de Silva , athlete_oath = Chen L ...

, where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. Some high attendance matches of the Beijing Guo'an football club are held at the stadium. In 1993, the stadium was host to a slew of

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

set by the world-leading group of Chinese distance runners at the seventh edition of the Chinese National Games, the most famous being international stars and world champions

Wang Junxia Wang Junxia (; born 9 January 1973) is a Chinese former long-distance runner who is the current world record holder at 3,000 meters. She also held the world record for the 10,000 meters for 23 years, between 1993 and ...

and

Qu Yunxia Qu Yunxia (; born 25 December 1972) is a Chinese Olympic athlete who specialised in the 1500 metres. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, she won a bronze medal in 1500 m. On 11 September 1993, she set the world record in the 1,500 metre ...

, who had dominated the 1993 World Championships a month before. The stadium holds claim to the fastest women's

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometer ...

time ever recorded of 3:50.46, the fastest women's

3000 m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m shou ...

of 8:06.11 and the fastest women's

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

of 29:31.78. These world records still stand today and are arguably the stadium's biggest claim to fame. The next year, the stadium was partially demolished and renovated as part of China's bid for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, which ultimately failed. The stadium continued to be the main Beijing sports into the 21st century, being the

2001 Summer Universiade The 2001 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXI Summer Universiade, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, between 22 August and 1 September. Beijing also hosted the 1990 Asian Games. A total of 6,757 athle ...

and the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

venue of

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

. After Beijing became the host of the

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

in July 2001 which the stadium was originally intended as the Olympic Stadium,but after the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary ...

was built, the venue was relegated to a secondary roll.But, hosted the football quarter-finals and semi-finals, and the women's gold medal final. The stadium was scheduled to host the first ever

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

game played in China, a preseason game between the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

on 8 August 2007. However, the China Bowl was canceled in April 2007. The reasons given were that the NFL wanted to devote all its resources to the scheduled regular season game between the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, to be played in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 28 October 2007. The stadium was the host for the 2009 Barclays Asia Trophy between 29 and 31 July 2009, featuring

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

, and

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

clubs

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. It also hosted

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

's pre-season China Tour of 2012, during which the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club had a friendly match with

. The areas north (

Sanlitun Sanlitun () is an area of the Chaoyang District, Beijing containing many bars, restaurants, and stores. It is a popular destination for shopping, dining, and entertainment. The area has been under almost constant regeneration since the late 2 ...

), east, and west of the stadium are popular nightlife destinations. The ''xi men'' (West Gate) offers a strip of nightclubs. The

Workers Indoor Arena The Workers' Gymnasium (official name) is an indoor arena located west of the Workers' Stadium in Beijing, China. It was inaugurated in 1961 for the 26th World Table Tennis Championships. It hosted the Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics, boxi ...

is located to the west of the stadium. The stadium has been used for concerts as well. Global superstar

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

began her sold-out five-show Chinese tour at the Workers Stadium, and Linkin Park played The Hunting Party Tour at 26 July 2015 in front of an audience of 60,000.

Demolition

On 4 January 2020, Workers' Stadium was announced as a host venue for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

. However, on 14 May 2022, AFC announced that China would not be able to host the tournament due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. After finishing the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

moved its home stadium the

Beijing Fengtai Stadium The Beijing Fengtai Stadium (Chinese: 丰台体育场) is a multi-purpose stadium in Fengtai District, Beijing, China. It is currently used mostly for football matches and also sometimes for athletics. The stadium was the home ground of Beijing ...

for three years while renovations ahead of the tournament took place. The engineering firm of the rebuild project is

Beijing Construction Engineering Group Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) is a Chinese construction and engineering firm that has built important structures in Beijing and infrastructures and buildings overseas through international branches, in particular, an active subsi ...

Notable concerts

* 6 August 1999:

A-mei Kulilay Amit (; born 9 August 1972), better known by her stage name A-Mei, is a Taiwanese singer and record producer of Puyuma descent. Born as Amit Kulilay in eastern Taiwan, she made her debut in 1996. A leading figure of the Mandopop music ...

- Mei Li 99 * 13 October 2002:

Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese Rock music, rock band formed in Hakodate in 1988. The core four members, vocalist Teru (singer), Teru, guitarists Takuro (musician), Takuro and Hisashi (musician), Hisashi, and bassist Jiro (musician), ...

- Glay One Love In Beijing, audience: 35,000 * 28 August 2004:

Faye Wong Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; pinyin: ''Wáng Fēi''; born 8 August 1969) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career, she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (). Born in Beijing, she moved to British Hong Kong at the age o ...

- No Faye! No Live! Tour * 23 September 2005:

S.H.E S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. They formed in 2001 and are managed by HIM International Music but decided not to renew their contract in 2019 due to having their own management company. Si ...

- Fantasy Land world tour * 22 October 2005:

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

- Rainy Day 2005 Tour * 1 May 2008:

Jay Chou Jay Chou Chieh-lun ( zh, s=周杰伦, t=周杰倫, first=t, p=Zhōu Jiélún; born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, director, and businessman. Regarded as one of the most influential artists in the Chinese-speaking worl ...

- Jay Chou 2007 World Tour * 16 September 2011:

SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-p ...

- We are SMAP! 2011 live in Beijing * 17 May 2014: Dave Wang Dave Wang comeback World Tour * 10 October 2014:

- The Elusive Chanteuse Show, audience: 60,000 * 19 October 2014:

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and conce ...

Power World Tour The Power World Tour (also known as the Power Galaxy Tour) is the second world tour by South Korea, South Korean music label YG Entertainment in 2014, the last being the Past, Present & the Future world tour in 2006. The tour marks the entertainm ...

* 26 July 2015:

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

- The Hunting Party Tour * 14 July 2018:

Joker Xue Joker Xue (, born July 17, 1983) is a Chinese singer-songwriter and record producer, formerly known as Jacky Xue. One of the most-streamed and most popular Mandopop artists, he is known for his emotional vocal delivery with works that span vario ...

- Skyscraper World Tour

References

External links

Official website for New Workers' Stadium (New Gongti), since April 2023Stadium pictures

*, article about Gongti Ximen (Workers' Stadium West Gate), a nightlife area {{Chaoyang District, Beijing Sports venues completed in 1959 Contemporary Chinese architecture Football venues in Beijing Athletics (track and field) venues in China Sports venues in Beijing Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics Stadiums of the Asian Games Multi-purpose stadiums in China Beijing Guoan F.C. Buildings and structures in Chaoyang District, Beijing Venues of the 1990 Asian Games 1959 establishments in China 2020 disestablishments in China Demolished buildings and structures in China