Beijing started on Wednesday to build three competition venues for the 2008 Olympic Games, bringing the total of venues under construction to 22.

The hockey and archery fields, both located in the southern part of the Olympic Green, and the beach volleyball court, situated inside the Chaoyang Park in the east of the capital city, are all temporary facilities.

The hockey field covers an area of 11.87 hectares with two courts and can accommodate a crowd of 17,000. The archery field occupies 9.22 hectares with a seating capacity of 5,000.

These two facilities are due for completion by the end of 2007.

Covering a floor space of 15 hectares, the beach volleyball venue has one main court, two warm-up courts and six training courts. It will be able to accommodate 12,000 spectators.

It is scheduled to be completed in August, 2007.

A total of 37 competition venues will be used for the 2008 Games. Fourteen of them were brand new facilities, 14 were existing structures that need renovation and upgrading, and nine were temporary.

(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2005)