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Published: November 30th -0001
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We ventured out to The Cube on the weekend. I was particularly excited about going to see where all those swimming world records were broken, and the kids, well, they were excited, because inside, half the stadium has been transformed into a huge waterpark. The Olympic pool was still there, and they seem to be getting a lot of mileage out of showing it off to the tourists. It does not look like the public can swim in the pool and it is kept in pristine condition, with cleaners everywhere mopping where visitors had recently walked.
We first spotted the waterpark from the upper observation deck, through a huge glass wall that ran the length of the Cube. The water park was the weirdest place. Five stories high - the inside height of the Cube, and about one third it’s width - it is big. The first thing you notice is the big water slides spilling and spraying water everywhere, then there is the big Wave pool, with what looked like half the population of Beijing splashing about in 1 metre deep water, many in life jackets. The kids loved it. Michael and I didn’t dislike it, however we did find
the experience entertainingly strange. The people there were really getting into it. Maybe it was the water, maybe it was the tsunami waves every half hour, or maybe it was the disco music and DJ Otzi on stage revving up the big aquatic crowd. You can see by the photos that it was fairly packed, although possibly not by China standards, but definitely by our reckoning. It reminded me of the queues we have at our parks in Surfers Paradise in summer, only it isn’t summer here, it was about 7 degrees outside.
I need to state for the record that the standard of mens swimming costumes would make Tony Abbot very proud! If the swimmers were not pulled up as high as possible over their navel, I think it must have been considered inappropriate. ‘Harry High Pants’ translated into Chinese actually means ‘fashion statement’, and the men appear to follow the fashion with a passion. Where do you look at times like this?? At one point I was even a little embarrassed, because when you queue for the slides you are pressed in from all sides….I guess I should just leave that one with you to ponder. Needless to
say, family members in Oz that have been privileged to have been swimming with Michael, will know that he was right at home in ‘budgie smuggler land’ …. ‘and loving it’ as Max would say!
Hygiene is always an important part of the adventure, and I tried the entire time not to think about my infection control training, microbes per million, filtration integrity, and what I may have been swimming in. Thankfully the smell of chlorine made me feel that whatever it could be was hopefully dead.
In the middle of the park is the ‘beach’ which was really popular. It is a wave pool and every now and then they let out a loud siren warning to announce there is Tsunami coming, so flee if you are feint hearted, or prepare for the power of the mighty 1 metre waves. Because I wasn’t expecting it, the first time I actually thought it was a proper announcement! Yep, you can think it…I deserve it!
So it was a little tacky … but everyone loved it and danced along as the waves rolled in. Maybe the warning was really about the 80’s disco music they pump up the volume on
… At the top of the wave pool is a stage, and they have someone up there who we believe must be well known in China, revving up the crowd. They yelled, screamed and cheered, at him and with him, and kept doing the ‘Mexican wave’ in the pool. Everyone was having a great time so we couldn’t help but join in. We were in hysterics because we had no idea what we were cheering to, or for. We have become so used to be stared at, that doing slightly crazy things doesn’t seem to bother us anymore. Note to self - This could be a problem for us when we return home to our anonymity.
So, for 4 hours we splashed, slid, danced, yelled, laughed, rafted, and even swam a little, just like everyone else in the park … we fitted in perfectly, even down to Michael’s fashion statement. So will we go back? Definitely! Would we recommend it? Not if you are just visiting Beijing on a holiday, as there are too many other ‘A’ list attractions you need to be seeing. This is best left for us ‘locals’ to enjoy. After all, we don’t have a real
beach! FYI, we paid 100 RMB ($14.75 AUD) each to get into the Cube and Water Park, however, if you just want to go in and look around, without the Water Park experience, then it is only 30 RMB (ie, $4.50 AUD)
In the photos you will also see we got some snaps in front of the Birds Nest … we plan to do one of the tours through it sometime in the future. I hope you enjoy them, let us know what you think. Remember, if you subscribe to our blog you get an email notification whenever we update it.
Xiǎngniàn nǐ, Nat x
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sueellenmurphy@gmail.com
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Go you 'locals'
Love the email Nat, so detailed and funny - although I have vivid pictures of Michael with a wedgie about now! Mitchell showed me the exact spot he sat to watch Michael Phelps win all his gold, so thanks for the photos. Love seeing your girls, I just want to give them a big cuddle, please send them our love. Have the girls started school work yet or are you still very much in holiday mode? Not long till the end of term 4 now and then we head back to Brisbane for 5wks. We missed out on Christmas with the family last year and we are looking forward to it this year. Remember Karla my friend that you met at Colour, she is moving over to Thailand at Christmas for Destiny Rescue, so if we can do China and Thailand that would be very cool. Anyway love you heaps and get some boardies for Michael. Love Sue and the Murphy clan xxxx