Olympic Games

Venues-Field Hockey

The green, green grass of Beijing

Last Updated: Friday, August 8, 2008 | 2:04 PM ET

Bernice Chan CBC Sports

A view of the Field Hockey venue at the Olympic Green in northern Beijing, 09 August 2007. (Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images)

The Olympic Green Hockey Field is one of the most colourful venues in Beijing. The deep green fields are artificial, but have automatic sprinkling systems to enable the athletes to slide on the surface. This is a relatively new technology in China, where most plants and trees in the city are watered manually by a water truck and a man with a giant hose.

Located in the Olympic Green, the venue is at the intersection of the fifth ring road and Changping Expressway that goes to the northern suburbs of Beijing.

But back to the colour. A bright orange border frames the green field, while the stands are light and dark blue. There are two fields, Field A and Field B. The former holds 12,000 spectators and will be used for the finals, and the latter with 5,000 seats for preliminaries.

The hockey grounds have met the standards of the International Hockey Federation, making the Olympic Green Hockey Field the best in China.

In the “Good Luck Beijing” 2007 International Hockey Tournament held last August, the Australians were the ones to beat, as they won both the men’s and women’s titles. It may not be China’s strongest sport, but now they’ll have the perfect venue to improve their game.