Beijing 2008: Olympic venues overview
A total of 39 competition venues were used for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008: 18 of them new, 12 existing and nine temporary.
Out of 18 new venues built for the Olympic Games Beijing 2008, all are in use today for sports, cultural and recreational activities. Some of them are iconic buildings, such as the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) and the Water Cube.
Another 12 existing venues were upgraded to host the 2008 Olympic competitions. All of them continue to be used and have a functioning business model. Some of them, like the National Olympic Sport Centre Gymnasium and the Ying Tung Natatorium, are facing competition from more modern venues, but are able to subsist thanks to their users’ loyalty.
Eight out of the nine temporary venues used during the Games were dismantled as planned. The triathlon course is still used for national and international competitions, while the hockey pitch in the Olympic Forest Park was replaced by the National Skating Oval, built for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. A large shopping centre is currently being built where the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground used to stand and the area around the venue has also been used for a variety of cultural activities.
The Laoshan BMX Park has not been dismantled but was instead transformed into a leisure park and remains in use open to the public.