Beijing Tour – Olympic Park

As the site of most of the major events of the wildly successful 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Beijing's Olympic Park remains as a reminder of the fantastic achievements of the athletes during those Olympic games as well as a still-vibrant and integral part of the historic city of Beijing. The Olympic Park (also known as the Olympic Green) lies on the same north/south axis as the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City, intentionally placed there as a continuing part of centuries of history in Beijing. The park still stands much as it was during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, at least as far as the outside of the venues are concerned. The Bird's Nest (National Stadium) is still quite a spectacle to behold due to its unique architectural style and enormous size, and you can still see the Olympic torch from the south side of the stadium, although you do have to look closely as it was set down on its side during a period of high winds in 2009. For 50 RMB (about US$9) you can go inside and walk around inside the gigantic stadium, but be sure to get there fairly early as it closes to new entrants at around 3:30 p.m. The inside of the Bird's Nest is much the same as it was during the Olympics, but around 11,000 seats were removed after the completion of the Games to better accommodate spectators for other events that were supposedly going to be held there. As of this writing (October 2010) there have only been a handful of events held there since the closing ceremonies of the Olympics back in August 2008. The park's other main attraction, the Water Cube (National Aquatics Center), still looks the same from the outside as it did during the Olympics and it is still absolutely beautiful when it is lit up at night, less so during the daytime. But inside it has undergone a dramatic transformation with the opening of the Happy Magic Watercube Park, a water park which is just about as bizarre as its name. It takes up half of the 12,000 square meter Water Cube area. It is supposedly Asia's largest water park with all of the same attractions and rides that you would expect, and a few strange things (e.g. a stage set up inside apparently sometimes features Las Vegas-style showgirls and questionably-talented bands). The entrance fees, at least for the summer and fall of 2010, are a steep 200 RMB (around US$30). In addition to those two sites though, the rest of the Olympic Park grounds are great for walking around and enjoying the weather when it is nice. There are numerous sculptures scattered throughout the park, and it is possible to walk from the Bird's Nest and Water Cube area all the way north to the edge of the Beijing Olympic Forest Park (a separate park just north of the Olympic Park) and then take subway line 8 on the ever-expanding Beijing subway line to reach another destination in the city. Food stands abound, selling drinks and snacks, so a visit to the Olympic Park can be a very pleasant diversion for a few hours, particularly when the weather is good. It is well worth a visit to see Beijing's Olympic Park, where so much history was made in the summer of 2008. Beijing Tour – Olympic Park is a post from: Traveling China from Traveling China http://www.chinaya.org

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