5 January 2003 - Field Trip to the Olympic Green

We are often asked:
Can we see the "destruction of the hutongs" to make place for the Olympics?
Can we see the on-going construction for the 2008 Olympics?

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the so-called destruction of the old hutongs. While certainly mistakes have been made and some precious old houses fell victim to unscrupulous developers, the overall reality is quite different.
Beijing has embarked on a large-scale rehabilitation and repair of old monuments, houses and parks. Many squatter buildings were taken away to restore the old landmarks to their original splendor. One example is Ditan Park and the new area between the Forbidden City and the Beijing Hotel, both in Dongcheng District.
Shots of the newly built traditional structures close to Forbidden City and the exhibition panels showing how the former housing looked like.

the new traditional buildings and panels showing the housing before demolition

The of the "destruction" of the old houses is often a welcome cleanup. Most are actually in very bad condition and lack even the basic infrastructure and utilities, contributing to pollution and other environmental problems. I welcome anybody to visit the many narrow alleys that are still begging to be removed. Also, most of the construction we see today in Beijing is related to projects planned since long for improved infrastructure, real estate and other. Beijing 2008 Olympics has thankfully accelerated the modernization of the City.

Important to note here is that Beijing will use many existing venues that will be modernized in the next years. The Worker's Stadium and Worker's Gymnasium are some of the well known venues that are still in operation.

G. Van Kerckhove being interviewed in the Worker's Stadium

The area for the Olympic Green has been kept free from new development since a long time as it was already reserved for the Olympics. As a result, the area itself consisted mainly of rural areas, low-grade housing, shops and government institutions.
See an old aerial picture of the region of the Olympic Green where the 4th and 5th Ring Roads are not yet in place and were the old structures can be seen.

aerial view of the "Olympic Green" area

detail, showing the "SPOT" where the pictures were taken in January

The pictures made on 5 January 2003 show the area of the Olympic Village and the Convention Center.

views next to the intersection of Datun Street and Tianchen Street

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