Ultra-modern venue built on the site of a former industrial park (photos attached)

Exterior view of venue

(BEIJING, April 11) -- The scene: a "heated" competition amidst golden-yellow sand under sunny skies, with cool waters offering an occasional breeze.

The location: The Beach Volleyball Grounds during the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.

With construction now complete at without question the "hottest" of all Olympic Venues, designers of the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Grounds had to step up to meet the rigorous requirements of the Olympics.

Construction officials in the Olympic City have met and exceeded all of these expectations, building a fabulous 12,000 seat volleyball palace that rivals all other previous incarnations of Beach Volleyball since its medal inception at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Former industrial site

Everywhere at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Grounds, there are reminders of times past, from a mature tree that still stands tall and strong, to a mottled sign, to an old factory with its red brick walls and cobwebbed floors. The new Beach Volleyball Venue at Chaoyang Park has been built atop an old Beijing industrial site.

Three former factories were located at the Chaoyang Park site from the 50s, 70s and 80s and have all been converted and remodeled into facilities spaces for use by FIVB dignitaries, athletes, competition management personnel, security, technicians and the media.

To give the venue a nostalgic feel, the construction and design group has attempted to keep as much of the site's original flora as possible, adding only new foliage that are similar to the old.

Ming Dynasty Temple

While clearing out old architecture from the site, construction workers came across a dilapidated temple, which, after careful excavation, was found to be the ruins of the Tai Shang Lao Jun Temple from the Ming Dynasty.

In Ming times, this site had housed numerous kilns and related workrooms used to fire bricks and ceramics for the royal palace. The temple was most likely used to make offerings to the "kitchen god" so that he would protect the grounds.

Only three halls and two side chambers remain of the temple. As construction of the beach volleyball venue now draws to a close, workers are taking extra precautions to protect and preserve the temple's ancient remains.

The FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's Challenger

The Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Grounds -- a first in Mainland China -- consists of a main competition venue, two warm-up arenas and six practice arenas. With a planned total area of 18 ha, it can seat 12,000 fans. One of the greenest venues of the 2008 Beijing Games, the venue will have green verdant spanning more than 70 percent of the facility.

The venue will eventually be filled with 17,000 tons of sand that has been packed, freighted and unloaded from Hainan Island.

The 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball Women's Challenger is slated for August 13-19.

Following the Olympic Games, the venue's lake will be converted into a 4,000 X 5,000 sq m swimming pool and, in conjunction with the sand shore, will become a "beachside bathhouse".

An additional a round musical fountain -- 25 m in diameter -- will be erected on the east side of the venue.

Entrance to spectator passageway