For the first time since the 2008 Olympic Games, beach volleyball returns to Beijing as the capital of China prepares to host the first FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour Grand Slam of the year from June 6-12. The last time the sport visited the historical city was during the quadrennial Olympic Games. On that occasion the U.S. celebrated double gold as men's duo Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser beat Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz before Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh secured a second Olympic gold medal to match the one they picked up in Athens by beating home tandem Jia Tian and Jia Wang in the final. China's Chen Xue and Xi Zhang completed the women's podium while Brazil's Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego also claimed bronze in the men's edition. Prior to the 2008 Games Beijing had only hosted a a FIVB Challenger Event in 2007, won by Brazil's Vivian Cunha and Angela Viera. Beijing is China's largest city and is situated on the North coast of the country. It is recognized as the political, educational and cultural center of China and few cities in the world besides Beijing have served as the hub of an area the size of China for so long. The beach volleyball tournament will take place at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball, the same venue that played host to the Olympics three years ago. Below to the left is the podium at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (from left to right) Brazil's Marcio Araujo and Fabio Luiz, USA's Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser and Brazil's Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego.