Yanqing near Beijing, a 2022 Winter Olympics venue, boasts natural beauty and a variety of attractions - we spent five days sampling them, and that wasn’t enough
- Yanqing boasts areas of unspoilt nature, a variety of attractions, the most visited section of China’s Great Wall, and several new luxury hotels
- A 40-minute high-speed train ride from central Beijing, it won’t be quiet for much longer – the district will host sports events of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Forty minutes by high-speed train from the centre of Beijing, quiet, sparsely populated Yanqing is a world away from the skyscrapers and rush-hour crush of the Chinese capital.
Despite its abundant greenery, craggy mountains and historical sites – not to mention Badaling, the most visited section of the Great Wall of China – Yanqing, with a permanent population of 320,000, flies under the radar of most Beijingers in the warmer months of the year. Instead, they flock to Huairou and Miyun for getaways on the fringes of the city.
However, thanks to its selection as one of the three competition venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics (the other two being the city centre and Zhangjiakou, in neighbouring Hebei province), Yanqing’s cachet is rising quickly.
The 1,992 square kilometres (769 square miles) of Yanqing district will host the alpine skiing, bobsleigh/skeleton and luge competitions at the games in February, as well as 20 non-sporting Olympics events.
Like Olympics planners, hotel chains have noticed the potential of the district: the Hyatt Regency Beijing Shiyuan opened in 2019, Crowne Plaza Beijing Badaling opened last year and DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing Badaling will open later this year. Marriott International opened two hotels – under the Marriott and the cheaper Element brands – there in late August.
All are among the 15 Yanqing hotels selected to house visitors to the Winter Olympics.
