The Asian Games Village for the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 will go into trial operation by March 2022, six months ahead of its official opening, said a local senior official.

Miao Chengchao, deputy secretary-general of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee and vice-mayor of Hangzhou, told China Daily on Dec 24 that roof-sealing work at the Games' village in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, has finished, a major milestone in its construction.

Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River, the village enjoys convenient transportation.

It is only 3.5 kilometers from the Hangzhou Olympic and International Expo Centre. A 30-minute drive is all it takes to reach 15 competition venues in the city's urban area.

Comprising a total of 108 buildings, the 113-hectare village consists of an athletes' village, a technical officials' village, and a media village as well as international and public zones.

In terms of its design concept, the village's color, architecture, landscape and flood lighting combine Hangzhou's cultural elements to highlight the city's elegance.

Covering an area of 30.4 hectares, the athletes' village is divided into Plot 1 and Plot 2.

These will provide accommodation, catering and recreation and entertainment services for more than 10,000 athletes during the Asian Games Hangzhou 2022.

Plot 1 will be used as a lodging place while Plot 2 will be equipped with restaurants for athletes and a physical recovery and strength-training center.

The 16.4-hectare technical officials' village and 19.4-hectare media village are to house nearly 4,000 technical officials and about 5,000 journalists during the Games.

In addition, delegations from Asian countries can enjoy medical and commercial services in its international and public zones, which are located between the athletes' village as well as the technical officials' village and the media village.

The construction plans implement the Games' concept of "Green, Smart, Economical, Ethical", and strive to build a green, ecological, low-carbon, healthy and modern city, according to an official of the organizing committee.

Besides, the village adopts a model of transit-oriented development for the efficient use of ground-level and underground spaces. As it used environmentally friendly technologies and materials during its construction, more than 50 percent of the complex meets China's standards for green buildings.

This has led it to be labeled a National 2-Star Green Ecological Urban Design, the first of its kind in the province, said Li Shenfei, an official with the Venues Department of the HAGOC.

Moreover, the village is to use technologies such as cloud computing, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, big data and 5G communications. It will provide unmanned retail, real-time intelligent translation and electronic patrols during the Games and will be transformed into a smart community after the Games, Li added.

The athletes' and technical officials' villages will be sold to locals as residences after the Games.

The media village will be transformed into apartments for the talents in the city.

After the Games, the international and public zones will be equipped with public facilities including a community cultural center, community sports center, youth center, museum, concert hall and a library.

"The village will undergo landscape design, construction of an external curtain wall, mechanical and electrical engineering and internal decoration. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2021 before going into trial operation in March 2022," said Chen Zhanglin, chief engineer of Hangzhou CBD Investment Group, one of the investors of the village. "As one of the key infrastructures of Hangzhou 2022, the village will showcase a new look of China as well as the character of Zhejiang and its capital Hangzhou upon its completion," said Chen Weiqiang, deputy secretary-general of the Games' organizing committee and vice-mayor of Hangzhou.

The Asian Games Village is under construction. CHINA DAILY

Design sketch of the technical officials' village. CHINA DAILY