FACTBOX: Beijing's Olympic venues after the Games
(Reuters) The following are key facts on how some of the 16 new venues that Beijing built for the Olympics are planned to be used after the Games.
BIRD'S NEST:
-- The new operator of the stadium, a consortium led by state-run investment group CITIC, will auction naming rights.
-- Seats will be reduced from Games' time 91,000 to 80,000 and the venue will become home to the Beijing Guoan Football Club and host entertainment events.
-- Hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and shopping malls will sprout up around the landmark as part of a 300 million yuan ($43.7 million) remodeling by CITIC.
WATER CUBE:
-- Some seats will be removed to transform the aquatic centre into a training and recreation center. Tennis courts, water slides, retail outlets, night clubs and restaurants are planned.
-- Beijing National Aquatics Center Company Ltd, which will run the venue, promises entry prices similar to the city's other swimming pools to ensure that the public gets to use the only Games venue that was partly funded by their donations.
WUKESONG INDOOR STADIUM:
-- The cube-shaped venue in west Beijing will be the NBA's first facility in China, hosting NBA China basketball games, after NBA China and entertainment giant AEG, the owner of dozens of sports venues worldwide, agreed to co-manage the stadium.
-- The pair will also manage neighboring Beijing Wukesong Culture and Sports Center. Concerts and theatre shows are planned, and managers say they may ice over the basketball court for international ice skating or ice hockey events.
NATIONAL INDOOR STADIUM:
-- China's biggest indoor stadium, located just north of the Water Cube, will go on to host sports competitions and arts, culture and entertainment events. It will also serve as a multi-functional exercise centre for Beijing residents.
-- Designed with an eye to its afterlife, the venue dubbed "the fan" has excellent acoustics, sound insulation and even "noise-free" seats, according to local press.
FENCING HALL:
-- The hall inside the National Convention Center will be dismantled and the space will become a 6,000-seat conference and banquet centre.
OLYMPIC GREEN TENNIS CENTER:
-- From 2009, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA)'s elite tournament will add the venue to its international circuit, and Beijing will become one of four international WTA events.
-- The complex will serve as a national training base for Chinese players, and some courts will be open to the public.
OLYMPIC VILLAGE:
-- The 42 six- and nine-story apartments will sell for $500,000 to $1 million each after the village is converted into a tourism and residential area.
-- Equipped with solar cells and geothermal heat pumps, the apartments' energy-saving innovations are touted as part of the Games' green legacy.
Sources: Reuters, The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, (en.beijing2008.cn), The United Nations Environment Programme (here
?bid=ID0EIQAG), local media (Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Beijing Editorial Reference Unit)
