Shougang Park, The Steel Mill Turned Tourist Spot And Olympic Dreamland

When I saw Shougang Park for the first time, I was awestruck. I was impressed not just by the stylish appearance of the venue, but also by the fascinating idea of how an industrial wasteland was repurposed first as a park and tourist attraction and, later, as an Olympic venue.

For those who don't know about Shougang Park, what follows is a bit of history. Originally built all the way back in 1919 in Shijingshan District, Shougang was a steel mill that operated in the capital until 2005, when operations were relocated to Hebei Province in order to reduce pollution in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The mill remained silent and shut for a long time after the Summer Games, but that all changed in the late 2010s, when the area began the process of being converted into a 2022 Winter Olympic venue. Developers didn't want to wait until the Games to repurpose the mill site, though, and it was quickly turned into a park and tourist attraction, with tours of the mill on offer, restaurants, and more.

Stepping inside, you'll find the remains of industry. Everything you see, from the chimneys to the cooling towers to the giant blast furnaces, were once used to create steel. These large concrete cooling towers provide a dramatic backdrop for Olympic venue.

After tooling around a bit, we made a beeline to Big Air, the venue where some of the world’s top freestyle skiers and snowboarders made history. Seeing the jump up close and in person for the first time was a mind-blowing experience, it's a whole lot steeper than it looks on TV!

As I looked down the slope, I could only imagine how Eileen Gu managed to perform such gravity-defying jumps and flips. The ramp has a near 50-degree angle and it is as high as a 20-story building. I have no doubt it would take a tremendous amount of courage to take the plunge from this man-made mountain.

Another thing that stood out was the design of the platform. Not only does Big Air Shougang make for a stunning feat of engineering, but a visually impressive one as well.

Not too far away from Big Air stands Shangri-La Shougang Park Hotel, where hospitality meets industrial designs. When I first walked inside the hotel, a thought hit me: I’ve never seen a Shangri-La quite like this! Unlike other Shangri-La locations, where luxurious interiors dominate, this branch is essentially transformed from an old power plant into an urban living space.

Inside the hotel, you'll find old pipes and other elements repurposed. There's even a red steel spiral staircase that connects different public spaces.

Past the hotel lies Xiuchi Lake, which was built in 1940 and was once used to store the water needed to produce steel. After the park was repurposed, the entire lake was simply made a part of the park, making for a nice place to stroll when the weather is right.

Not too far away from the Xiuchi Lake is the No. 3 Blast Furnace. First impression? This thing is massive. Then I learned that it was actually Shougang’s first large-scale blast furnace that has a capacity of more than 2,500 cubic meters, as big as an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Today, the furnace has been turned into a book and gift shop, where you can score trinkets, Olympics memorbilia, and even ice cream shaped like the furnace itself.

Touristy day trip, relaxing space, Olympic venue, former steel mill. These are the many faces of Shougang Park, a one-of-a-kind experinece in the capital that's definitely worth a day trip!

Shougang Park
Shijingshan Road No.68 , Shijingshan District
石景山区石景山路68号

Read: Chugging Into Beijing: A Hole into the Capital's Railway History

Images: Irene Li, Dianping