Beijing 2022: Olympic venues overview
In staging the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, Beijing became the first city to host Olympic summer and winter editions, having provided the venue for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008.
Four of the 12 competition venues at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games had been used at Beijing 2008: the National Aquatics Centre, National Indoor Stadium, Wukesong Sports Centre and the Capital Indoor Stadium. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies were held at the Beijing National Stadium, also a Beijing 2008 venue. The remaining venues were all newly built for Beijing 2022, except for Zhangjiakou Genting Snow Park, and were designed for use long after the Games.
The venues were located at three competition clusters: Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, each with its own Olympic Village.
Since Beijing 2022, they have been converted into multi-purpose venues operating all year round and staging major sporting events and cultural and recreational activities and serving their local communities. All are committed to the goal of engaging 300 million Chinese people in ice and snow activities.
The Beijing Zone comprised the Beijing National Stadium, National Aquatics Centre (the venue for the curling competitions at Beijing 2022), National Indoor Stadium (ice hockey), Wukesong Sports Centre (ice hockey), Capital Indoor Stadium (short track/figure skating), National Speed Skating Oval (speed skating) and Big Air Shougang (snowboard/freestyle skiing).
The National Aquatics Centre is a multi-purpose venue that continues to host ice and swimming events as well as cultural events and shows. It will also be the site of a World Curling Academy Training Centre.
For its part, the National Indoor Stadium is a venue for indoor sports events such as the Beijing Youth Championships and the Beijing Winter Games, concerts, ice shows, acrobatics and circus performances. It is also used by residents for fitness classes and recreational activities.
Another multi-purpose sporting, recreational and cultural venue, the Wukesong Sports Centre hosts basketball in the summer and ice sports in the winter, among a range of other events and activities.
The 17,000-capacity Capital Indoor Stadium is itself a versatile facility and is used for gymnastics and ice sports competitions, likewise the National Speed Skating Oval, which stages ice and snow sports competitions, mass-participation fitness sessions, cultural and recreational events, and exhibitions.
Big Air Shougang is used for sports competitions and training, as well as cultural events such as outdoor music and beer festivals, car shows, concerts and light shows. It has also applied to host the Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard World Cup events.
The Yanqing Zone was home to the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre (Alpine skiing) and the Yanqing National Sliding Centre (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton). The Zhangjiakou Zone contained the Genting Snow Park (freestyle skiing/snowboard), Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre (biathlon), Zhangjiakou National Ski Jumping Centre (ski jumping/Nordic combined), and the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre (cross-country skiing/Nordic combined).
Comprising 20 buildings and accommodating 2,300 athletes, the Beijing Olympic Village has since been converted into public housing for rent and sale. The Olympic Village in Yanqing (1,430 beds) is now home to hotels and apartments serving the region’s thriving winter sports industry, while its counterpart in Zhangjiakou (the largest of the three villages with 2,600 beds) is a business complex.