Should Beijing win the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, organizers of the bid say there would be little to build and they would make the best use of current facilities.
Jiang Xiaoyu, Deputy Director of the Beijing Olympic City Development Association said, “we won’t build new venues if we can use the old. And if we do build new facilities, they would only be temporary. They just need to meet standards. They don’t need to be very sophisticated or luxurious”.
He added, “the venues for the Winter Olympics won’t specifically become landmarks. The aim is really to meet the needs of the Games. If they can meet these needs, and at the same time be unique and low-cost, that would be ideal”.
Beijing is bidding jointly with Zhangjiakou, about 220 km northwest of the capital. All 12 venues would be in three regions, urban Beijing, the Yanqing suburb, and Zhangjiakou’s Chongli County.
The two mountainous areas require several temporary venues and expanded skiing sites. Transportation would be in the form of a high-speed rail built by 2017 to allow for a 20-minute commute from Beijing to Yanqing, and less than one hour to Chongli.
