OlymPicks: Yanqing Olympics Venues to Open to Public Next Friday

In OlymPicks, we highlight the news, gossip, and developments following the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and beyond.

Next Friday (Apr 29), Yanqing Olympic Park, where much of the alpine and sledding events from this year’s Winter Olympics took place, will be opened to the public, according to Beijing Daily.

While the opening includes the chance to tour all the facilities there, the report seemed to focus on one thing in particular – the fact that guests will be able to partake in meat pies “similar to the ones Eileen Gu ate.”

It’s unclear how good these meat pies are, but emulating China’s Winter Olympian hero only goes so far at the complex – you’ll only be able to check out the alpine skiing slopes from afar instead of hurtling down on skis at breakneck speed.

Be that as it may, the venues are a sight to behold. There’s the National Alpine Ski Center, aka “snow swimming swallow”, and the National Sliding Center, aka “snow swimming dragon”.

The latter venue, where bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge events took place, is high on my list – bobsleigh is a favorite sport of mine. And even though guests won’t be able to try it out for themselves, there’s a VR setup complete with a fake sled to give the sport a try.

So, once you’ve grabbed your meat pies similar to those eaten by Eileen Gu, gawked at the Alpine slopes and given VR sledding a whirl, what else is there to do? You can tool around the Olympic Village for a while and “immerse” yourself further by taking a nap in one of 100 athlete rooms set to be opened.

But that’s not all. If you were one of many who weren’t able to score a Bing Dwen Dwen doll when the mascot was all the rage a few months back, you can try grabbing one (and Shuey Rhon Rhon too) at one of the official merch stores within the complex.

Although you could opt for getting a Didi all the way there, it’s a long trip up to Yanqing – so we’d recommend high-speed rail. Trains to Yanqing Station are available each day from Beijing North and Qinghe Station (up by Shangdi Station on Line 13). Once you alight at Yanqing Station, you can hop in a cab or Didi to the venue.

READ: OlymPicks: The Ice Cube Set to Open to the Public This Saturday

Images: Global Times, 央视新闻, Beijing Daily