[Note: all population figures are for city-area, not the much larger municipality, or urban, area.] 

Shenyang (China’s 10th largest city) is a sub-provincial city, and the capital of Laoning province, in northeast China, with a population of around 4.4 million (2007 estimate).  On 7th August,  Shenyang Olympic Stadium will host the Group C teams:  Brazil v. Belgium (early match) and China v. New Zealand (late match).

Quinhuangdao (around China’s 78th largest city) is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, 190 miles east of Beijing, with a population of three-quarters of a million.  Thursday the 7th of August,  Quinhuangdao Olympic Stadium will host the Group D teams:  Honduras v. Italy (early match) and South Korea v. Cameroon (late match).

Beijing is China’s capital, and the second largest city in the country, with a population of around 10.3 million.  Both of the Beijing Stadiums will not host matches in the first 2 sets of games, and the National Stadium will only host the Mens Football Final, on Saturday, 23rd August. 

Tianjin is the 7th largest city in China, with a population of 5.2 million.  This northern coastal city is 120 miles southeast of Beijing, on the Bohai Gulf.  On 7th August, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium will host the Group B teams:  Japan v. USA (early match) and Netherlands v. Nigeria (late match).

Shanghai is China’s largest city (and one of the top 10 largest cities in the world), with a population of around 16.2 million (20.6 million in the urban area).  On 7th August, Shanghai Stadium will host the Group A teams:  Australia v. Serbia (early match) and Cote d’Ivoire v. Argentina (late match).

Group Stage chapter, from Wikipedia’s page on this competition.: {Click here}.

List of largest urban areas in China, from Wikipedia: {Click here}.

Here is something interesting, from the official 2008 Summer Olympics site, which shows the Beijing National Sports Stadium (aka, “the Bird’s Nest“) being built, in time lapse-photography: {Click here, and scroll one-third down the page, to the box below where it says Focus}.

While searching for images, I came across this blog, called Off the Chang…here is an article about the Bird’s Nest stadium, and the larger issues surrounding the Beijing Olympic games:  {click here}. 

Thanks to the Football Temples of the World site {click here}.

Thanks to Wikipedia for the map and information; {click here, for their page on the competition}.  Thanks to the CIA World Fact Book site, for the population statistics {click here}.   Thanks to Ahmed, at Soccer Lens, for the idea, and input {click here}.

My next post will be a map, with photos of the 6 venues for the football competition, at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.