Practicing the concept of “Green Olympics,” the beach volleyball event organizers had the previously existing workshops and industrial storerooms on the grounds converted into office space rather than having new offices built.

The volleyball ground contains 17,000 tons of fine sand imported from Hainan.

FIVB Supervisor Blair Harrison told reporters that he has been to all the well-known volleyball grounds around the world. Beijing’s Chaoyang Beach Volleyball Ground, however, is very special. Blair commented that to hold the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Beach Volleyball events in a park in the heart of Beijing is very original and unique.

Full view of the main court for the Beijing 2007 ITF Pro Circuit finals

The flower-shaped Olympic Green Tennis Center is meticulously designed for natural ventilation to ensure the quality of the competitions for athletes and spectators.

The center’s three main courts are dodecagonal with each of the 12 sides as a stands. The gray cement walls around each of the 12 sections form 12 stands which look like 12 petals of a lotus flower in the Olympic Forest Park.

With 10 competition courts, the venue covers a surface area of 16.68 hectares and has a building area of 26,514 square meters. The venue has a capacity of 17,400 seats, including 10,000 seats in the main court; 4,000 seats in the No. 1 cour; 2,000 seats in the No. 2 court; and 1,400 seats in the seven preliminary competition courts at the No. 2 platform. Next year, the Olympic tennis and Paralympic wheelchair tennis competitions will be held at the Center.

The tennis court under the blue sky

The main court is the biggest among the three “lotus flowers.” Its “petals” are sustained by 48 sloping beams, each weighing 62 tons with a length of 17 meters. On August 17, 2008, some 10,000 spectators will gather here to watch the final matches of the Olympic tennis events.

Taking into account the small size of the tennis ball and its high speed, the architects have designed a steep stands which gives the spectators the best sight line, according to Zheng Fang, chief architect of China State Construction International Shenzhen Design Consulting Company, Ltd — the construction management group for the Olympic Green Tennis Center project.

A symbolic hand-over ceremony was held in front of the Gymnasium.

With the 2008 Olympic Games less than one year away, the China Agricultural University (CAU) Gymnasium was delivered to the wrestling’s international governing body (FILA) at a symbolic hand-over ceremony on Saturday morning.

Located on the eastern campus of CAU, the Olympic wrestling venue is, by far, the first completed venue that is located in a school campus.

The complex spans an area of nearly 24,000 square meters and can seat up to 8,500 people.

The venue is now available for the impending 2007 Junior World Wrestling Championship slated from 21 to 26 August 2007. It will also play host to the volleyball seating competition during the Beijing Paralympic Games, which will be held from 6 to 18 September 2008.

After the 2008 Games, the venue will serve as a multi-functional facility accessible to university students and staff, as well as the residents in the neighborhood.

Olympic rowing, canoeing, kayaking, and marathon swimming events will be held at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, where a total of 32 Olympic gold medals will be awarded. The Park is located at the eastern side of Xiangyang Gate of Chaobai River in Shunyi, a 30-minute drive from the center of Beijing. The venue covers a 163 hector area with a total construction area covering 32,000 square meters.

A total of 552 athletes from 47 teams and 60 countries will compete on 207 boats in the various rowing events held at the Park. There are 82 athletes representing 29 different counties competing in all canoe/kayak slalom events. An additional 246 athletes will compete in the flat-water events. The open water marathon swimming events will host 50 athletes, 25 men and 25 women, representing 28 countries. Over 1500 volunteers will service the venue.

The park was designed to embody one of this year’s three Olympic themes, ‘the people’s Olympics,’ ‘high-tech Olympics’ and ‘green Olympics.’ The venue’s design also embodies Chinese cultural characteristics.

The Park was also designed in consideration of the individual visitor. The park’s architects created an environment that caters to the comfort and need of all Olympic guests. Handicapped facilities allowed all visitors access to the park.

The three-story building is 33.8m tall, capable of seating 6,000, including 3,000 temporary seats. It is capped with a dish-shaped dome where more than 200 lights are installed. A 250m-long all-weather wooden cycle track lies on the floor, surrounded by rows of blue spectator chairs.

The velodrome has a lattice-framed steel structure, with a horizontal shadow spanning 133.06m, and 150m in diameter. To put 1,400 tones of steel structure in place, the engineers and workers displayed their “weaving” skills on and above ground.

They set up two platforms on a 500m-long round steel rail to lift the beams and gradually expanded the surface on which the supportive structures are erected. At one juncture, it took four hours for 700 workers to use 64 capstan engines to put the dome’s skeleton in place.

Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium

Entering Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, one first notices the funnel-shaped LED display system. It is the first set of comprehensive displays in China that is able to meet the demands of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not only are the standards met for basketball games, the LED system is also capable of being used for theatrical performances, real-time broadcasts and background imagery.

Furthermore, all audience seats are upholstered for comfort and convenience. On the second floor, there are 45 luxury boxes, with 29 large ones and 16 small ones.

By adopting a rainwater recycling system, easy-to-clean glass and other technologies, the designers fully implemented the idea of “Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics, and People’s Olympics” into the construction of Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium.

Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium

The Beijing Shooting Range Hall

The qualification competition hall contains 10m, 25m, and 50m target ranges. The final competition hall contains sealed 10m, 25m, and 50m target ranges.

The venue has a total seating capacity for 8,600 spectators, with 2,170 permanent seats and 6,430 removable seats. The qualification competition halls can seat 6.100, and the final competition hall can seat 2,500.

The Beijing Shooting Range Hall was designed to reflect the shape of a hunting bow. This design takes into consideration the origins of the sport of shooting—hunting in the forest. The Shooting Hall’s qualification competition halls and the final competition hall are connected by the venue’s main entrance, which contributes to the venue’s “bow” shape.

Post-Games, the venue will host important international and Chinese shooting competitions and serve as the training base for the Chinese national shooting team and youth training grounds.

Parts of the venue might be used as a national defense teaching facility. Additionally, the venue may be used to promote shooting as a sport to the public and to promote the Olympic spirit.

Glass curtain wall
The National Indoor Stadium is situated in Olympic Green’s Central Zone, and north of the “Water Cube”. The roof of the indoor stadium is shaped like an open fan, the lines full of motion and lightness, supported on four sides by a steel framework that is covered with sheets of glistening and transparent glass. The whole fanlike structure strongly reflects the essence of Chinese culture.

Olympic events: Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline, Handball

Seating: 20,000

Long-span steel roof truss of the National Indoor Stadium

Located on the western side of JINGGUANG Road of the Olympic Green, the National Aquatics Center, also known as the “Water Cube”, is a blue crystal palace, with the appearance of light-blue bubbles on the outside, perfectly displaying the beauty of water under various light conditions.

The nightscape of the ‘Water Cube’

The construction of the National Aquatics Center, or the “Water Cube,” topped off today. The “Water Cube” was built in accordance with a water-saving design concept to be a gigantic green architectural wonder.

The venue’s membrane structure, covered by ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) air cushions, is not only the first of its kind in China and the world’s largest and most complex ETFE project, but it is also an economical and water-saving creation.

The blue-colored “hubble-bubble” material is much lighter than conventional glazing structures with the same lighting effect. So the cost of its supporting steel structure was reduced considerably, said Zheng Fang, the top designer of the Chinese-side design company.

ETFE material made by a German company would have cost 400-500 Euros per square meter, but the same material manufactured through a joint venture was only 2,000 yuan per square meter. The conventional glass covering will cost about 500 to 600 Euro.

In addition, the “Water Cube” was designed with water-saving and environmental protection efforts. According to statistics, the outer surface and roof facade can “collect” 10,000 tons of rain water, 70,000 tons of clean water and 60,000 tons of swimming pool water annually. And the venue can also save 140,000 tons of recycled water a year.

Other environmental design efforts covered an air-conditioning system, surface water exploitation and ventilation system.

New Venues in Beijing

* 1 National Stadium (Bird nest Photos)
* 2 National Aquatics Center
* 3 National Indoor Stadium
* 4 Beijing Shooting Range Hall
* 5 Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium
* 6 Laoshan Velodrome
* 7 Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park
* 8 China Agricultural University Gymnasium
* 9 Peking University Gymnasium
* 10 Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium
* 11 Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium
* 26 Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Court

Existing Venues in Beijing

* 12 Olympic Sports Center Stadium
* 13 Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium
* 14 Beijing Workers’ Stadium
* 15 Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium
* 16 Capital Indoor Stadium
* 17 Fengtai Sports Center Softball Field
* 18 Yingdong Natatorium of National Olympic Sports Center
* 19 Laoshan Mountain Bike Course
* 20 Beijing Shooting Range CTF
* 21 Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium
* 22 Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium

Temporary Venues in Beijing

* 23 Fencing Hall of National Convention Center
* 24 Beijing Olympic Green Hockey Stadium
* 25 Beijing Olympic Green Archery Field
* 27 Beijing Wukesong Sports Center Baseball Field
* 28 Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground
* 29 Laoshan Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX) Venue
* 30 Triathlon Venue
* 31 Road Cycling Course

Other Cities:

1. Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center