Beijing Hotels Boost Tourism in the 2008 Summer Olympics

China is one of the world's emerging superpowers and has lately made her presence felt in the international arena as she was chosen to host the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Held every four years, the Olympics is participated in by about 120 countries, with groups battling it out in several sports, from swimming to diving, from track-and-field to javelin throwing, from basketball to soccer, you name it.

Beijing did not waste time in finding the venues after being chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. The city and the national government worked hand-in-hand to gather the best team of engineers, architects and landscape designers to jumpstart this most important project because they knew that big investments will be pouring in. In addition to this, more Beijing hotels were built in anticipation of the visitor surge during the games.

The government planned to use a site wide enough to put the various stadiums and complexes in one place. By doing such, travel time will be significantly reduced, thereby increasing the players' productivity. The Olympic Green was the name chosen for the site. In there, thirty-one sporting venues can be seen. It is situated at the north end of the central axis of Beijing.

The Olympic Green is accessible to most of the hotels in Beijing since it is well within the city's cultural and business districts, where thousands of tourists and businessmen flock to. Many significant sporting venues are located within the green. The biggest of these is the Beijing National Stadium. The building's design was inspired by Chinese ceramics, which depicted intricacy and beauty rolled into one. Also called the 'Bird's Nest,' it hosted 91,000 spectators during the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as in the football and athletics finals.

Another unique structure is the Beijing National Aquatics Center, better known as the 'Water Cube.' Its design is based on the structure of soap bubbles, which are air-filled pockets of translucent plastic. At night, the structure illuminates with colors which change from time to time. This was where swimming, diving and synchronized swimming competitions were held.

The Beijing National Indoor Stadium, nicknamed 'The Fan' due to its design resembling a traditional Chinese holding fan, hosted Artistic Gymnastics, Tramp lining and Handball events. Also within the Green is the Convention Center, a 270,000 square-meter structure which was used for Fencing and the Modern Pentathlon. It was also the International Broadcast Center where the press covered the entire games.

The Beijing Olympic Village was the temporary home of the athletes. It resembles some of the hotels in Beijing since it is made up of twenty-two six-storey buildings and twenty nine-storey buildings.

Beijing hotels were at sky-high during the games since they had good occupancy rates continuing for months. The city and the country were the stars of the show. The 2008 Summer Olympics was indeed the coming-out-party for China and its constituents. For a nation once known as the Sleeping Dragon, she has now finally awakened!

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

About the Author

Author E. Larson is a long-time resident of Beijing, China. He works closely with the Redwall Beijing Hotel and many other hotels in Beijing. Go to his website on the Redwall Beijing Hotel here.

by: Efrenn Larson

Total views: 8 Word Count: 505 Date: Sun, 3 Jan 2010 Time: 10:43 AM - 0 comments

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