Beijing will speed up the construction of all 26 venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics in the three competition zones, namely Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, in 2018.
Among the 13 venues in Beijing, most are remodeled from venues for the 2008 Olympic Games, with some newly built, such as the national speed skating hall. The hall is dubbed the "ice ribbon" for its resemblance, and construction work on its foundation and main structure will soon begin.
The Beijing Winter Olympic Village covers an area of 191,700 square meters. It is one of the major 2022 Winter Olympics non-competition venues, and it has laid its foundation by the end of 2017. By applying environment-friendly building technology, the construction of the village will put athletes first and pursue sustainability and energy saving at the same time.
The competition venues for alpine skiing, sledging, snowboarding and freestyle skiing in Yanqing district have also begun construction. In 2018, the district aims to complete 60 percent of the construction of the alpine skiing center, and 50 percent of the Winter Olympic Village and the media center. In addition, the construction of the U-shaped course in the sledging center is expected to finish by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, all venues in Zhangjiakou have been under construction. The remodeling of existing venues will begin at midyear.
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympics expects that all competition venues will be completed by the end of 2019 for test events.