2022 Winter Olympics: Beijing, the Host City

The bustling capital of the world's largest nation

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Beijing is one of the world's most connected and most storied cities, having served as the capital of China off and on for many centuries. The city today is among the top ten most populous on Earth, with at least 20 million residents in its metropolitan area.

The Summer/Winter City

Beijing is the first city to host both a summer and a winter Olympics. As such, the city has repurposed a lot of its summer facilities to use for the winter events.

• The opening ceremonies and award ceremonies will be held at the National Stadium.
• The curling will be held at the National Aquatics Center, which hosted the swimming events in 2008.
• The ice hockey will be held at the National Indoor Stadium which hosted the gymnastics events. This stadium is nicknamed "the Fan" due to its appearance. It will also be held at the Wukesong Sports Center which hosted the basketball events.
• The speed skating events will be held at the newly built National Speed Skating Oval.
• The figure skating and short-track speed skating will be held at the Capital Indoor Stadium which hosted the Nixon-era table tennis matches between the U.S. and China.
• The Big Air skiing and snowboarding events will be held at the newly built Big Air Shougang.

The Yanqing District

Yanqing (the "q" is pronounced like a "ch") is one of the northernmost districts of Beijing. Here the city abuts the Xiaohaituo Mountain Area (the "X" is pronounced somewhat like a "sh"). Already a ski destination, Yanqing received a massive increase in winter tourism after the announcement of the Olympics.

• The alpine skiing will be held at the National Alpine Ski Center
• The bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton will be held at the National Sliding Center.

Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

Some of the hillier events are being held in nearby Zhangjiakou city (The "zh" in Mandarin is pronounced somewhat like a hard "j") in neighboring Hebei Province. Located 140 miles from central Beijing, and 80 miles from the Xiaohaituo area, the city sits in the Yin Mountains that separate the Beijing area from Inner Mongolia.

• The ski jumping will be held at the Snow Ruyi, a ski jump facility named for its resemblance to the ruyi, a ceremonial scepter that often appears in images of saints, sages, and deities. The ruyi often represents good fortune.
• The biathlon will be held at the National Biathlon Center.
• The freestyle skiing and snowboarding events will be held at the Genting Snow Park, with the exception of the Big Air events.
• The cross-country events (including the cross-country portion of the Nordic Combined) will be held at the National Cross-Country Center.

Environmentally Friendly... Maybe

As part of their broader climate diplomacy, China has been heavily investing in renewable energy production. To show off their capacity on the world stage, Beijing has committed to exclusively powering Olympic facilities with renewable energy sources. This come at the same time as environmental concerns about the impact the Games could have on the surrounding ecosystem. The nearby mountains may be negatively affected by some of the necessary construction and preparations, including the introduction of artificial snow to some of the ski and snowboard areas.