 The Design of the Games
Many of the Olympic events will be contested in an area called the Olympic Green. The masterpiece of the Olympic Green is the Olympic Park Centre Stadium commonly referred to as the “Bird’s Nest”. This will be the site of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the track and field competition and soccer finals. Within 400 meters of the stadium is another unique design– “The Cube”. “The Cube” (which looks like a giant ice cube—see lower left) will house the swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming competitions.
Each venue will expose Americans to the unique flair of the Chinese culture.
 Other competitions in the Olympic Green area will include archery, artistic gymnastics, cycling, fencing, handball, pentathlon and trampoline.
The competitions in the University Area are: judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling and volleyball.
The Western Community Area will host: baseball, basketball shooting, softball and track cycling.
Canoeing, kayak, rowing and the open-water swimming will be held in the North Scenic Area with a beautiful new site at Shunyi Olympic Rowing /Canoeing Park.
Triathlon will compete in the Ming Tomb Area. Boxing will be located in the city center of Beijing at the Worker’s Indoor Stadium. Beach volleyball will be at Chaoyang Park, just east of the Third Ring Road.
 If you are traveling to Beijing for the Olympic Games, there are a few things that will make your trip more seamless:
Travel- There are two primary travel systems—subway and taxi. Be aware that cars do not always yield to pedestrians, even at traffic lights.
Subways can get you wherever you want to go faster than cabs.
Taxis are an inexpensive mode of transportation, but you need to use those with the red tag as these are regulated (red tag is in the rear window of the green and yellow cab). It is much like New York City in that regard. The rules of the road are different, so don’t be surprised at what happens during your trip. Most taxis will not take U.S. Dollars, so have some RMB on hand. The regulated cabs will have a book with photographs of all the Olympic venues, so if you and the driver are struggling to communicate ask for the book.
 Food- Chinese food in the United States is “Americanized”, so expect Chinese food in Beijing to be different and more authentic. Great meals can be found all over the city at very reasonable prices. However, you may not know what it is that you are selecting as English translations on menus can be difficult to understand even with photographs, so a Chinese language book with common food words can be helpful.
The Chinese are extremely efficient and not wasteful of any portion of animals they prepare as food. For example, fish bones are cooked and used with a great dipping sauce, duck tongues are sliced and roasted and fish scales maybe flash fried and used as decorations.
Heat and Humidity- Heat and Humidity have the potential to be a major player in athlete performances. Our athletes will have to be prepared and acclimatized for heat and humidity, much like preparations for Atlanta and Athens.
 The average temperature will be between 82-86 degrees with a relative humidity averaging 69 (out of 100). This places Beijing on the Heat Index Chart in the Caution to Extreme Caution section. Hydration strategies will be needed.
July and August typically have the most rainfall of the year-- almost four to five inches more than any other month.
Currency- Renminbi (Chinese: 人民币), literally “people's currency”, abbreviated to RMB, is the currency of the People's Republic of China. The unit for Renminbi is Yuan (元), Jiao (角), Fen (分): 1 Yuan = 10 Jiao = 100 Fen. The current conversion at this time, is 1 U.S. Dollar to 6.98 RMB.
COMPETITION READINESS
Our athletes are prepared and ready to compete. A number of our teams will be in Asian locations in July getting adjusted to the climate and time zone.
As teams and athletes are named, the USOC will be booking flights for Beijing. A typical flight from the United States to Beijing is more than 12 hours. The athletes will be crossing the date line, so they will leave on one day and arrive on the next day. Upon landing, athletes will gather their luggage, go through the Olympic credentialing process and then to the Olympic Village.
Due to the time difference, some sports have altered their traditional time schedule. For example, the finals of swimming events will be conducted in the morning, instead of the afternoon, so U.S. swimmers are altering the times and types of training they undergo so that they are prepared for the new start time.
The USOC has completed a contract for a training location for U.S. athletes while in Beijing. The High Performance Center (HPC) will provide housing for practice partners for the combat sports(sparring partners for boxing, judo, taekwondo and wrestling), replacement athletes (in case of an injury and/or illness), personal coaches, NGB professional staff and press officers and others.
A concern for athletes during the Olympic Game’s is the ability to workout when they need to and for teams to have privacy when practicing plays or routines. The USOC facility will be as close as possible to one of our Olympic Training Centers with gymnasiums, a 50-meter swimming pool, two tracks, strength and conditioning area, sports medicine clinic and a recovery area, which will be available to the athletes and coaching staff prior to and during the Olympic Games.
As a supplement to the excellent food in the Athlete Village, the USOC will provide athletes with U.S. style food at the High Performance Center. The village will be the primary meal location, but athletes training and living at the HPC, or those who wish to visit, will have a meal service available at this location.
The USOC is working to put our athletes in the best possible position to fulfill the dreams of a lifetime. We know that you will catch the excitement and the drama that only an Olympic Games can produce. Amazing Awaits!
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