BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 31 venues in Beijing are ready to embrace the Olympic Games slated for August 8-24.

The National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, is a masterpiece for its giant twig-like structure of metal girders and the bowl-shaped roof.

Covering an area of 20.4 hectares, it can seat 91,000 spectators in three floors during the Olympics. The 3.5-billion-yuan (about 500-million-U.S. dollar) stadium is scheduled to host the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field competition and soccer finals during the Olympics.

The National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube, resembles a gigantic blue box of bubble-wrap, which looks iridescent, elegant and magic.

Located in the Olympic Green, it covers an area of nearly 80,000 square meters, with a seating capacity of 17,000. The centre will host the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events during the 2008 Olympics.

The National Indoor Stadium joins the group of landmark structures in the Olympic Green together with the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. The Stadium, with an overall building area of 80,900 square meters and a seating capacity of 18,000, will be the venue for the Olympic artistic gymnastics, trampoline, and handball competitions and the Paralympic wheelchair basketball competition.

The Beijing Shooting Range Hall, with a surface area of 45,645 square meters, and a seating capacity for 8,600 spectators, will host 10 shooting events during the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will also likely be the venue where the first gold medal will be awarded during the Games.

The Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium covers an area of 168,000 square meters with three floors underground and four floors aboveground, which can seat 18,000 spectators.

The funnel-shaped LED display system inside the gymnasium is the first set of comprehensive displays in China that is able to meet the demands of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It's also capable of being used for theatrical performances, real-time broadcasts and background imagery.

Occupying a land surface of 33,320 square meters, the Laoshan Velodrome shines as a brand new venue for the track cycling event. The three-story building is 33.8m tall, capable of seating 6,000, including 3,000 temporary seats.

The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park will host the rowing, canoe/kayak -- flat-water, canoe/kayak -- slalom, and marathon swimming events, during which 32 gold medals will be awarded.

With a building area of 31,850 square meters, it occupies the largest surface area of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games venues. The venue has a seating capacity of 37,000, with 1,200 permanent seats and 25,800 temporary ones.

The China Agricultural University Gymnasium, the venue for the Olympic wrestling, spans an area of nearly 24,000 square meters and can seat up to 8,500 people. After the 2008 Games, the venue will serve as a multi-functional facility accessible to university students and staff, as well as the residents in the neighborhood.

The Beijing University Gymnasium is the venue for table tennis. Covering an area of 26,900 square meters, the gymnasium has room for eight competition tennis tables and can seat 7,557.

The Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium, with 8,012 seats, will hold the judo and taekwondo competitions of the Olympic Games and wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball competitions of the Paralympic Games.

With a building area of 24,383 square meters, the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium has seating capacity for 7,500. The gymnasium boasts the world's largest pre-stressed suspension dome ceiling 93 meters in diameter.

The flower-shaped Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Court is meticulously designed for natural ventilation to ensure the quality of the competitions for athletes and spectators. With 10 competition courts, the venue covers a building area of 26,514 square meters, with a capacity of 17,400 seats.

Besides the newly-built venues for the Beijing Olympic Games mentioned above, there are eleven existing venues in Beijing, namely the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Beijing Workers' Stadium, Beijing Workers' Gymnasium, Capital Indoor Stadium, Fengtai Sports Center Softball Field, Yingdong Natatorium of National Olympic Sports Center, Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, Beijing Shooting Range CTF, Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium and Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium.

Still some venues are temporary, including the Fencing Hall of National Convention Center, Beijing Olympic Green Hockey Stadium, Beijing Olympic Green Archery Field, Beijing Wukesong Sports Center Baseball Field, Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, Laoshan Bicycle Moto Cross Venue, Triathlon Venue and Road Cycling Course.