Gao Xue has been a tour guide in Beijing for 15 years. He knows all the hutongs. He knows where to eat duck, where to eat lobster, and where to find peddlers selling authentic Beijing snacks.

But Gao was baffled recently when a tourist from New Jersey asked him to recommend a hotel in "America town".

"Don't you know America town?" the man persisted. "What do you call the area around the Wukesong Olympic Basketball Arena? "

Then Gao understood. During the Olympics, the area around Wukesong has become a little piece of America, with NBA stars lighting up the basketball venue and the US and Cuba contesting the gold medal in America's national pastime - baseball - 200m away.

"I feel like I'm back home," said US basketball player Carmelo Anthony. "When I first saw the venue, I was like 'woo, I'm in the States'. It looks just like the NBA venues at home."

Designed by American architect David Manica, who also worked on Houston's Toyota Center, home of Yao Ming and the Rockets, everything at Wukesong - from the scoreboard to the concession stands to the seat cushions - is reminiscent of the NBA.

Anthony and his teammates were welcomed like rock stars by 18,000 fans at the opening game between US and China on Aug 10.

"The place is amazing. I'm sure it's a lot of fun for Chinese fans to watch basketball games here," said Anthony.

The atmosphere is further enhanced by thunderous rock music, wide-screen replays, and scantily-clad cheerleaders.

"It's awesome," said George Kenny, 31, from Missouri, who watched the US play Greece.

"You feel it as soon as you enter the neighborhood. It's like walking into Chinatown in Los Angeles. There may be hundreds of Chinatowns in the States, but until now there wasn't an America town in China. I love it!"

With an estimated 80,000 foreigners working in the city, Beijing has a number of ethnic enclaves. The area around Maizidian in Chaoyang District is known as the "German Village" and Wangjing, also in Chaoyang, is called "Korean town".

But for cultural identity, none of them can match Wukesong.

Even before the Olympics, there was an American flavor in the air. Major League Baseball (MLB) staged its first game in China four months ago, when the Los Angeles Dodgers played against the San Diego Padres.

Recently, NBA China announced a joint agreement with international entertainment giant AEG to operate the basketball venue after the end of the Olympics. It is the league's first venture into facility management in China.

As the first NBA-style arena in Asia, Wukesong will host the NBA China Games and will also be available for concerts, theatrical shows and international ice-skating or ice hockey events.