The construction of the National Speed Skating Oval, which is scheduled for completion by Dec. 31, 2019, entered its 600-day construction countdown on May 9 as shown on a 6-meter-high board next to the construction site. The building, nicknamed the "Ice Ribbon," features 22 separate light "ribbons" and is expected to be unveiled by next June.

The 22 "ice ribbons" symbolizing the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be made of a 1.3-kilometer curved glass curtain wall assembled by 3,360 pieces of curved glass. The central area of the oval will be an ice surface with a total area of 12,000 square meters, making it the largest ice surface in Asia.

As expected, the underground construction will be finished by next month, the glass curtain wall by next June, the ice surface by next October, and the preparation for test games by the end of next year.

In addition to the "Ice Ribbon" site, other Winter Olympics projects in Beijing have also set up countdown boards to complement their schedules of construction, yet maintaining high quality standards by benchmarking the highest construction quality of the country.

Except for a newly-added ski jumping venue, all the other stadiums in Beijing are now under construction. The National Speed Skating Oval "Ice Ribbon" will become yet another Olympics landmark in Beijing besides the National Stadium "Bird's Nest" and the National Aquatic Center "Water Cube." It will accommodate ice sports activities for over 2,000 people and other international competitions after the Winter Olympics.

A total of 26 construction projects, including the ski jumping venue, Winter Olympic villages, and the renovated stadium of the National Aquatic Center, will also get started this year. After the event, the Beijing Winter Olympic Village will serve as public rental housing for the city's talents, and the Yanqing Winter Olympic Village will turn into resort hotels. Moreover, the ski jumping venue will become the only permanent large-scale one in the world.

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