CHINA: OLYMPICS - Massive construction changes Beijing's face in run-up to 2008 Olympic Games

In the run-up to the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is getting ready for a major make-over. Experts say Olympic-related construction will benefit China's capital long after all athletes are gone. With just over a year to the start of the 2008 Olympic Games, workers are putting finishing touches on landmark buildings that will define Beijing's efforts to make its Games count. Some 40 billion U.S. dollars are being spent on constructing or renovating the 31 Olympic venues in the capital. The estimated cost for the national stadium alone -- known as the Bird's Nest -- is 394 million. Once finished, the stadium will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, the soccer final and other athletics in 2008. It will have a capacity to house 91,000 spectators. Nearby, 100 million dollars are being spent on the National Swimming Center, a venue for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water-polo competitions during the Olympic Games, which will become a large public water recreational centre thereafter. Although it is a high price to pay for Beijing's face-lift, the movement for a fresh look to the old capital's historic sites, including its quiet tree-lined lanes, or hutongs, have been inescapable, especially as the city feverishly refurbishes itself ahead of next year's Olympic Games. Many single-story houses in the hutongs, which used to offer a respite from Beijing's noise and traffic, are being demolished to make room for modern skyscrapers. Hutong residents say they have been offered 1,050 US Dollars per square metre in compensation, and many complained this was much too little in a city where luxury floor space in newly built high-rises can sell for more than four times that much. But twenty-year-old Yang Yan, who has lived in Hutongs all her life, was more concerned about the image of her country during the Olympic Games. "Talking about reconstruction, rivers will be cleaner and our living environment will be improved. As for the Olympics, the environment will be improved which will help build the image of the country. I hope the reconstruction will be successful," Yang said. The ruling Communist Party ordered the confiscation of many ancient buildings to accommodate new state ministries after it took power in 1949. Most of Beijing's ancient city walls were also destroyed in the first years of Communist rule. Many of the buildings that survived were demolished in the destruction frenzy of the Cultural Revolution in 1960's. These days, many experts worry that a new round of construction will not only cause the disappearance of remaining architectural heritage but also the excessive building of new facilities that will seldom be used after the Games are over. Gregor Hoheisel, director of Beijing's office of architectural studio, Graft LLC, disagrees. "Of course, I mean, this city is so big and it has so much need for everything that it will swallow these buildings like nothing, and use them and the Olympic stadium will be filled every other day with major event. I wouldn't be concerned at all," he said. According to a recent study carried out by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the next 15 years, there will be between 200 million to 300 million Chinese farmers flocking to cities in search of work, and they will all need a place to live. "This kind of amount of people is being drawn to the cities and you just cannot provide them with historical housing space. You need to increase the capacity of the land to keep people living there," Hoheisol said. Meanwhile, over 17,000 tons of sand has been delivered to western Beijing where the beach volleyball venue for the Olympic Games is being build. Sand came from China's southern island Hainan at a cost of around 1.66 million US Dollars. It took three months to package the sand, 12 days to ship the load it from Hainan to Tianjin, and finally another two hour journey on 56 trucks to transport the cargo to Beijing. Guo Shaoxian, General Engineer of Beijing Chaoyang Park, said the effort wouldn't be in vain, and venues would not be wasted after the Games. "We have the plan that after the Olympics, there will be a lake close to the western part of the beach. We are now constructing the bottom of the lake. After the bottom is finish next month, we will pour water in. There will be a beach bathing spot here," he said. Olympic sand, which must conform to a set shape, size and colour, usually comes from Finland, Sweden and Denmark. After being selected by the organizing committee of the Games, the sand must still undergo processing, washing and polishing.

ITN Source | August 1, 2007

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