Shougang, Retooled and Resurrected

SHOUGANG, literally "Capital Steel", a very household name in Beijing, basically refers both to Shougang Group and its namesake steel plant - Shougang ( Capital Steel Plant) .

Shougang Group itself is a huge enterprise group with cross-regional, cross-ownership and transnational operation, mainly engaged in the production of steel industry, concurrently engaged in mining, machinery, electronics, construction, real estate, service industry, overseas trade and other industries.

Shougang or Capital Steel Plant in English, affiliated to Shougang Group, used to be the largest and the most famous plant for manufacturing iron and steel in Beijing.

The steel mill was first built in 1919 in Shijingshan District, west of Beijing city proper and had run for almost a century until 2005. In that year, the local Beijing authority decided to shut it down and move its operations out of the city prior to Beijing Olympics 2008 due to concerns over pollution.

After the closure of the Shijingshan site of Shougang Steel Plant, the local government decided to repurpose the time-honored steel mill as a heritage site for industry tourism.

On September 12, 2013, Shougang Industrial Cultural Park officially became a 3A level tourist scenic spot.

Now the old Shijingshan site of the steel plant has become a hot destination, a place where people can go for their daily leisure and get a sense of what steel and iron industry is, what industrial workers are.

Drive from Beijing downtown to the west on the Fushi Road Phase Overpass, out of the West Fifth Ring road, you can have a panoramic view of 30 - 40 meters high brown ironmaking blast furnacse and chimneys ringed by lake water and green trees, here is the old factory area of Shijingshan.

The old factory site park covers an area of 1.96 square kilometers, visitors can not only have a close look at a blast furnace, sit on a small train for sightseeing, but also experience the most nostalgic characteristics of the Old Shougang soda water, eating with the canteen trays popular in the old days, getting you back to the time when the real Shougang people did.

In 2016, the government made another creative decision to have part of the old steel mill retooled to accommodate Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and to build some of the venues and the training centers for athletes as well.

The arrival of the Organizing Committee has brought new vitality to the deserted factory. People, selected from all sectors, come here for the preparation of the games, enlivening the spacious place.

Now during COVID-19, Beijing people are making big efforts to overcome the epidemic, while busy readying the winter games of 2022 at the same time.

After 2022, Beijing will become the only city for holding both Summer and Winter Games in the world.

The training center and some of the venues for the coming winter games. Currently some national athletes are training inside there everyday.

A kind of modern robot for delivering food ordered online can be often seen running in the park.

The unmanned robotic vehicle is very artificial intelligent. It can slow down and avoid pedestrians automatically when seeing them.

A Starbucks coffee has opened here in the park and the business is very good.

Tip: Hassle-free Beijing Guided Tours

If you don’t want to go the do-it-yourself route and prefer the hassle-free escorted tours,  here are some options for Beijing guided tours:

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