A newly released plan, called the "Strategic Plan for the Heritage of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games", aims to help host cities incorporate lasting benefits before, during and after the Games.

Beijing, which hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 2008 and will host the Winter Olympics in 2022, has enormous resources to devote to the Olympic Games and will do its best to make full use of its Summer Olympic venues, said Liu Yumin, executive deputy director of the planning, construction and sustainable development department of the organizing committee.

Both design and the construction of the Olympic sites will combine elements of creativity and Chinese wisdom, Liu said.

The 2022 Winter Olympics is comprised of three competition sites: in Beijing, Yanqing district on the outskirts of the city and Zhangjiakou in neighboring Hebei province.

The Beijing division of the 2022 Winter Olympics will have 13 competition venues, 11 of them existing facilities from the 2008 Summer Olympics.

After renovation, these existing venues will allow for their new functions.

For example, the National Aquatics Center, more commonly known as the Water Cube, will have its swimming pool areas shifted into a curling venue for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which will be the world's first curling venue remodeled from what had been a swimming pool.

Many competition venues for the Winter Olympics will be built up at a park where Shougang Group, a major steel maker, was previously located.

The group started its first relocation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics more than a decade ago.

After the company moved out, its production site was turned into an Olympic-themed park and has become home to the office of the organizing committee of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Many training centers will also be set up within the park, which is expected to bring prosperity and revival to the area, according to the organizing committee.

The Yanqing division for the Games is being built alongside Haituo Mountain, Liu said, adding that environmental friendliness is a top priority in the entire construction.

After completion, the division will become a world-class ski racing center, as well as a wonderful public recreation hub where people can spend their holidays, he said.

The three facilities in Yanqing－the Alpine skiing center, the national sled center and the Yanqing Winter Olympic village－are all new.

Terminal facilities in the three venues will be kept for further use. After the Winter Olympics, the Alpine skiing center will be used for hosting international games, as well as the national skiing team's training.

The sled center will be open for the public and provide recreational programs. The Yanqing winter Olympic village will be turned into a hot spring resort.

During the spring, summer and autumn, the Yanqing division will build and develop outdoor training facilities to support popular sports programs, such as jogging, hiking, cycling, rock climbing and extreme sports, Liu said.

Sustainability is one of the three pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020, alongside credibility and youth, and a green Olympics has remained as a priority in organizing the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, organizers said.

Zhang Suzhi, deputy director of the Yanqing organizing committee, said that planning on botanic and animal evaluation and related protection work were carried out before the construction for the Olympic venues kicked off.

All construction units are required to carry out environmental evaluations on competition venues after a green construction plan is submitted, she said.

The Zhangjiakou division will set up special low-carbon competition areas, and the whole division is expected to be covered by renewable energy resources by 2021.

All competition venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be covered by an urban green grid, which also marks a first in the history of Olympic games, according to a news conference recently held in Beijing.

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