Olympic Park – Water Cube and Bird’s Nest

---

This was our first stop on the city tour today - and what a great start! These were both awesome structures to see. Gary, our Beijing guide, says these were just opened to the public last October; this was only his third time there, even though he is a local! We went through the water Cube first. It was designed to make you feel like you were under water. He has 17,000 seats, bigger than Sask Place, Auntie Dawn said. You could just imagine the excitement in the building during the Olympic races. The colors and feel were all beautiful.

The National Stadium, or Bird’s Nest was next. The are about 500 meter apart, across Olympic Plaza, where the Ling Long Pagoda is also situated (where Ron MacLean hosted the CBC Olympic broadcasts). The Bird’s Nest was huge, and you could just picture the opening ceremonies again, and see how they did those projections across the top of the stadium. We were able to walk right out and across the field level, which was pretty cool!

---

Photos

Inside the Water Cube
T & Mommom view the pools in the Water Cube.

Water Cube spectators
Still leaves 16,997 seats empty!!!

Bird's Nest lighting
Even the walkway lights were designed to fit the theme of the National Stadium!

It's huge!
Inside the Bird's Nest, taking it all in!

On your marks,...
Guess who's idea this was...? Thomas was not as into this scene.

Medal ceremony!
A mock medal ceremony went on every 15 minutes in the Stadium. Interesting crowd catching the scene!

Bird's Nest
The National Stadium, from across the street. Amazing architecture; awesome sight!

Olympic merchandising!
The Olympic spirit is still strong in Beijing! Amazing what you can find on the shelves in the Bird's Nest souvenir shops!

Comments

[Uncle Ding Dong]

Birds Nest Lighting
They crammed 13,000 people into Sask Place for the Eagles - so the Water Cube has a lot more seating. Pretty incredible for a pool facility. Our YMCA has 7 seats - unless they're using one as a door stop then it only has 6. They have the Birds Nest edition solar lighting collection at Canadian Tire - 6 for $39.99.

[Cydney]

Caregiver
On your marks, get set, auntie dawn's off. I'm sure Grandma is really appreciating Thomas's help keeping an eye on her especially in the crowded places. Good job Thomas i know that must be a tough job. Keep up the good work. Maybe go along with her games a little more, she usually enjoys that. By the way. that first picture of Thomas and Grandma in the Water Cube is amazing. First class photographer Jeff Johnson is doing a wonderful job.

[Uncle Ding Dong]

Water Cube Photo
I also like the Water Cube Photo. But c'mon Jeff, you couldn't have squeezed the Canadian flag in somehow?