Pictures of vacant Olympic venues in Beijing became a hot topic on Sina Weibo after Reuters photographer David Gray posted them online in March, 2012.

The photos included the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, the Beach Volleyball Grounds and the Laoshan Velodrome, all in various states of disrepair. In response, a reporter with the Beijing-based People's Daily, undertook an investigation to determine whether the 2008 Olympic venues were truly sitting empty.

The People's Daily journalist visited the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park, Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground and the Laoshan Velodrome in August, 2012. The journalist reported that there were roughly 100 people in dragon boats at the Shunyi venue.

"The picture must have been taken during the winter when the park is not busy. Also, because it was the park's off-season we decided to repair some of the venue's attractions," said an official with the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

"Chaoyang Park used the sands of Beach Volleyball Ground to build a beach theme park, which is visited by roughly 4,000-5,000 tourists each day during the summer. The picture was taken in winter, and the photographer didn't know that summer was our busy season", a Chaoyang Park official said.

In fact, Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, Laoshan Velodrome and Wukesong Baseball Field are temporary competition venues.

Beijing built 12 permanent and eight temporary venues, as well as refurbishing 11 others for the 2008 Olympics.

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