BEIJING, March 5: If you’re a female gymnast, the apartments at the Athletes Village for the Beijing Olympics will seem spacious. If you’re a male weightlifter, they may seem a bit cramped.

And if you’re interested in buying one of the units after the Games, you will need something between US$500,000-US$1 million.

Chinese officials opened the complex of high-rise apartments to the media for the first time on Wednesday.

Located about a 25-minute walk northwest of the two centrepiece venues for the games — the Bird’s Nest stadium and Water Cube — the 66-hectare (163-acre) complex will accommodate between 16,000-17,000 athletes and officials.

“This will be the biggest non-competition venue during the Olympics,” said Yu Debin, deputy director of the Olympic Village Department for the Beijing organising committee.

Unlike some of Beijing’s venues, the architecture in the Athletes Village is aimed at utility rather than art. Building facades are done in gray brick trimmed with black marble, dark wood and white stone. The complex is composed of 22 six-story buildings and 20 that reach nine stories.

The village will also contain a restaurant that can feed 5,000-6,000, a library, a clinic, swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, jogging tracks, shopping areas and coffee shops. The village will also have its own fire station.

The apartments themselves are modestly decorated in marble and wood with balconies overlooking a walkway and courtyards.

A unit in building 10, column 2 was opened for viewing and described as “typical”.

The three-bedroom units, meant to accommodate six, seemed small but officials said they measured 170 square metres (1,830 sq. ft.). The four-bedroom units are rated at 240 square metres (2,600 sq. ft.).

All have toilet and bath facilities that can be used by Paralympics athletes. The standard bed is two-metres (6 feet and 7 inches) long, though many offer 40 centimetre (16 inches) extensions for tall basketball players.

Some bedrooms are spacious, but others are tight, with two beds nearly touching each other.

About 7,000 Paralympics athletes and officials will move into the village just days after the Olympics close on Aug 24.

Among the more striking features of the village are the entry gates, the types seen in China towns around the world.

However, these gates have a modern, squared-off look. At the East Gate, a phoenix bird -- a sign of good fortune in China -- is depicted in red and gold and floats through a cloud design that is also being used on the Olympic torch.—AP