Beijing's Shougang Park enters vibrant new chapter after Olympics

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Published : 2026-10-18

Shougang Park (首鋼園) in China's Beijing is a century-old industrial heritage site reborn through the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Following the Games, this historic industrial estate has quietly upgraded its core in recent years, transforming its rusty blast furnaces into a neon-soaked, sci-fi metaverse theme park.

You can even step inside the ruins of a blast furnace core to enjoy a coffee and try cultural fusion fried chicken as black as slag, all whilst soaking up the rebirth story of Beijing Shougang Park.

Extreme sports experiences added to the Big Air Shougang

There are so many reasons to visit Shougang Park in Beijing: non-stop fun (home to North China's largest VR experience centre), striking photo spots (massive, awe-inspiring steelworks ruins), star power and iconic events (where Eileen Gu won Olympic gold), and rich history (a century of industrial heritage)... It's a single destination that ticks every single travel box!

Long after the Winter Olympics have drawn to a close, the excitement at Shougang Park's "Big Air Shougang" (the venue's iconic ski-jumping ramp) has far from faded.

As a permanent Olympic landmark, this venue continues to host international skiing events while gradually opening its doors to the public, transforming a professional competition arena into an all-in-one destination for spectating, sightseeing, and sporting experiences.

Even if they do not have the chance to compete on the platform, visitors can pay to take a special inclinator directly to the 48-metre-high platform where the athletes used to start, overlooking the expansive Shougang Park and the beautiful scenery of the Western Hills, and experiencing the commanding view that skiers like Eileen Gu had.

Beyond this, you can test your limits on the ramp with adrenaline-pumping extreme sports, high-wire ziplining, and rock climbing; down below, the site transforms into a winter wonderland where families can zoom down snow tubing lanes or tumble inside snow zorb balls.

The giant steelmaking facilities of Beijing Shougang Park

The cooling tower light show at Beijing Shougang Park

From Beijing Olympics to Winter Olympics: Shougang Park enters a new era

The Winter Olympics turned Shougang Park into a popular tourist attraction, but the connection between this steel complex and the Olympics had already begun when Beijing was preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

In 2001, Beijing successfully won the bid for the Olympic Games, and with the promotion of the "Green Olympics" concept, improving air quality became a crucial part of the city's preparations for the grand event.

Shougang (formerly a massive state-owned steel mill complex), located about 20 kilometres from Tiananmen Square, also embarked on a path of transformation during this period, gradually relocating its steel production lines from Shijingshan (石景山) in Beijing to Caofeidian (曹妃甸) in Hebei Province.

During the Beijing Olympics, the once roaring "steel city" gradually slowed its pace: four of the five blast furnaces suspended operations, and only one of the three steel mills remained in limited production.

The factory area, which once operated ceaselessly day and night, welcomed a rare period of tranquillity.

In 2008, the Beijing Olympics opened at the Bird's Nest, and the world's attention was focused on the city. At the same time, the Shougang factory complex to the west was also quietly turning a new page.

By 2010, as steel production at the Shijingshan site in Beijing came to a complete halt, the blast furnaces and factory buildings gradually bid farewell to their bustling past.

However, the story of the steel city did not end there. With the new vitality brought by the Winter Olympics, today's Shougang Park has taken on a new look, and its former industrial landscape has become a uniquely charming urban scene in the eyes of visitors.

The Wild Heartbeat Tower project at Beijing's Shougang Big Air

The express big slide of the Wild Heartbeat Tower at Beijing's Shougang Park

Children playing in the snow below the Big Air platform at Beijing Shougang Park.

The SoReal Sci-Fi Park at Blast Furnace No. 1 in Beijing Shougang Park

Step into Shougang's blast furnace for coffee

The machinery has cooled, but the human warmth has not diminished. After Shougang ceased production, many retired workers, such as steel rollers and equipment operators, have picked up megaphones to become park tour guides.

Those scenes of splashing molten steel and times of hard, sweaty labour have now turned into cherished memories, also becoming the most touching and warm guided tours for visitors.

Walking into the huge No. 1 Blast Furnace, the charred walls are covered with a century's accumulation of slag and carbon ash; a single touch instantly turns your hand black.

After the renovation, the smell of smoke and embers has greatly diminished, replaced by the aroma of coffee.

The core of the furnace, where 1,500-degree molten iron once flowed, has now been converted into a coffee shop. "Slag chicken nuggets" is the signature dish here; the charred chicken nuggets resemble slag scraped from the walls, crispy and full of fun!

Next to the coffee shop is North China's largest VR experience hall, Shougang No. 1 Blast Furnace · "So Real" Sci-fi Park. The five-storey indoor space uses neon and laser lines to create a mesmerising sci-fi atmosphere, combining sci-fi elements like aerospace, mecha, and interstellar civilisation with amusement rides.

Visitors can put on VR goggles and become snipers in a fierce gunfight with opponents in "Tower of Endless", or transform into the Azure Dragon or Vermilion Bird, following the Great Sage Equalling Heaven to ride the clouds and vanquish demons. Both adults and children have so much fun they forget to leave.

Beijing Shougang Park's Furnace Core Coffee

Cultural-creative chocolates crafted by the Shougang Grand Canteen

After leaving the VR experience hall with tired legs, it's a perfect time to hail a taxi on the "Apollo Go" platform to get around. Shougang Park is one of the few areas in Beijing open to driverless vehicles, and a taxi usually arrives in less than a few minutes.

Taking a short rest in the quiet cabin, watching the steering wheel turn by itself in front of the empty driver's seat as the car shuttles through the steel forest.

From 1919 to the present day, this century-old steelworks has undergone a remarkable evolution: scorching blast furnaces have given way to the sparkling "Glass Slipper" venue, dull industrial dust has been swept clean to reveal pristine Olympic blue, and rusted machinery has transformed into a cutting-edge VR hub.

The "Song of Ice and Fire" from the Olympic era has evolved into a new movement: Shougang Park is now composing a grounded, forward-looking harmony with futuristic technology.