There are now less than 100 days to go until the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. Beijing is in a fantastic position to hold the Games, having held the 2008 Summer Olympics. That means the city is able to reuse and repurpose some of the existing venues, as well as adding some exciting new structures constructed especially for this year’s Games.
The flagship stadium of the 2008 Games, The National Stadium (aka The Birds’ Nest) will host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and The National Aquatics Stadium (aka The Water Cube) will also play host to the curling competition.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Venues have been split into three clusters. Get the lowdown below!
Beijing
As well as hosting the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Beijing is also set to become the 2022 home of ice sports!
- The National Stadium (The Birds’ Nest) – Beijing 2008 Legacy Venue.
- National Aquatics Centre (The Water Cube) – Beijing 2008 Legacy Venue. Home to curling and wheelchair curling.
- National Indoor Stadium (The Fan) – Beijing 2008 Legacy Venue. Home to ice hockey and ice sleigh hockey.
- Wukesong Sports Centre – Beijing 2008 Legacy Venue. Home to ice hockey.
- National Speed Skating Oval – New Venue! Home to speed skating.
- Capital Indoor Stadium – Beijing 2008 Legacy Venue. Home to short track speed skating and figure skating.
- Big Air Shougang – New Venue! Home to freestyle skiing big air and snowboard big air. This venue was built on an old steel mill site and is extremely impressive!
- Beijing Winter Olympic Village – New Venue! Home to the 2,300 athletes and officials of the Games, competing in or officiating at the Beijing venues.
Yanqing
Yanqing – think alpine skiing and sliding events! Yanqing is approximately 75 kilometres from the centre of Beijing.
- National Sliding Centre – New Venue! Home to bobsleigh, skeleton, luge.
- National Alpine Ski Centre – New Venue! Home to alpine skiing and para alpine skiing.
- Yanqing Winter Olympic Village – New Venue! Set to accommodate over 1,400 athletes and officials.
Zhangjiakou
Ski and snowboard fanatic? Keep your eyes on Zhangjiakou! Around 180 kilometres from Beijing, a new high-speed rail link has been built to transport competitors and fans between in just 50 minutes!
- National Biathlon Centre – New Venue! Home to biathlon, para biathlon and para cross-country skiing.
- National Ski Jumping Centre – New Venue! Home to ski jumping and Nordic Combined ski jumping.
- National Cross-Country Centre – New Venue! Home to cross-country and Nordic Combined cross-country.
- Genting Snow Park – New Venue! Home to freestyle skiing, snowboarding and para snowboarding.
- Zhangjiakou Olympic Village – New Venue! Home to up to 2,640 athletes and officials.
We love how so many legacy stadiums have been used for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. It’s a crying shame when venues aren’t put into use after Olympic Games so it’s great to see this legacy in Beijing. Many of the new venues will also be repurposed after the Games, such as into business clusters (Zhangjiajie Olympic Village) and a park area and outside ice centre for camping, sports and events (National Cross-Country Centre).
Impressed by the speed of the rail line linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou? Take a look at the top 10 cities with the longest subway lines in China!
