The Beijing Olympic Village, the No. 1 village in the world

Main dining hall

The dining hall will serve international cuisine in Olympic Village.

The main dining hall is located on the right side of the Peace and Anti-war Wall, near the north gate of the village. It is the two huge white tents opposite the athletes' residential buildings. One section of the dining hall, with three rows of tables and chairs, serves food for the Olympic staff members, with 1000 people able to eat there at any one time. The other section of the dining hall is for athletes. It is four to five times larger than the staff dining section and between 3000 and 4000 people can eat there at any one time.

There are three main menus: Asian food, Mediterranean food and international food. There are several big refrigerators next to the dining area that have different kinds of drinks, which are mostly the products of Olympic sponsors: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and mineral water. Hot drinks are also available, such as Chinese tea and coffee.

Athletes' dining hall in Olympic Village

The large kitchen is separated from the dining area by the buffet table. Cooking equipment is mostly made of stainless steel, which is shiny and clean. Behind the kitchen are sterilization and cleaning workshops where dishwashers and disinfected cabinets are neatly installed in rows. The dining plates are made of degradable paper, and are environmentally-friendly.

According to an employee at the dining hall, staff members and athletes will not dine together, but the ingredients used in both sections will be the same. The main dining hall will provide 24-hour service.

Athletes' dining hall

The athletes' dining hall is very large. It has 30 buffet tables.

The international dishes include food that foreign athletes prefer, such as pizza. Chinese food such as Sichuan preserved cabbage will also be included on the international menu. The Asian menu consists mainly of fried dishes like fried beef, fried vegetables, fried meat with fungus, and diced chicken with peanuts. There is also an area that offers fish, Chinese bean curd, vegetables and vegetarian food. In the fruit area, fruits are ready to eat as they are carefully cleaned before being served.

After the Olympic Games begin, the athletes' dining hall will serve food for 9000 athletes daily while the staff dining hall will provide food for 3000 people daily.

A wide variety of food will be served during the Games

The dining halls in the Olympic village are different from other restaurants in that the amount of calories contained in each dish will be labeled, thus helping the athletes to have a better understanding of their dietary intake. There will be various "suggested menus" for different groups of athletes. Borsch, for example, is recommended by the chefs as being more suitable for wrestling, judo and weight-lifting athletes. The main aim of athletes when they are planning their dietary intake is to add energy. Beef contains a lot of protein, so it is an effective way of boosting physical strength. Beef contains a low level of calories, so it is especially good for those athletes who need to control their weight. The chefs will recommend "Fried glutinous rice balls with egg yolk" to the synchronized swimmers because the food will ensure that they can maintain a good body shape.

Asian-style food including Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes will account for 30 per cent of the food served to athletes during the Games. Western food will account for most of the menu.

Although there is a large variety of food for athletes, most of the food will be popular food that is quick and easy to serve. It is not possible to serve a lot of special dishes and dishes that are time-consuming to prepare. Due to the strict requirements that athletes place on their dietary intake, a lot of food and beverages are restricted.