Beijing China: OLYMPIC GREEN

Day 3 in Beijing:  Olympic Green
(Destination 4 of 4)

We arrived at the Olympic Green after a full dinner. The night was comfortably cold.  The place is very spacious now but during the Olympics, I would imagine that place overflowing with people, from all over the world.  We scheduled to visit this spot at night so we can see the yellow lighting of the Bird’s Nest and the blue of the Water Cube. 

There were also many locals who were readying the place for the Mid-Autumn Festival happening the day after.  For tourists like us, our trip was just very timely since we were able to avoid the festivities and the traffic of people and vehicles that go with the festival and so were able to see more places at less time, but it would have been nice to witness such an event. 

Beijing National Stadium “Bird’s Nest”

Is a stadium used for the Olympics in 2008.  The stadium was designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

"China wanted to have something new for this very important stadium," Li Xinggang, chief architect, stated.  In an effort to design a stadium that was "porous" while also being "a collective building, a public vessel", the team studied Chinese ceramics.  This line of thought brought the team to the "nest scheme".  The use (of the term Bird’s Nest) is a compliment Li explained, "In China, a bird's nest is very expensive, something you eat on special occasions."  The stadium consists of two independent structures, standing 50 feet apart: a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it. (Wikipedia)

National Aquatics Center "Water Cube"
Is an aquatics center used for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Olympics.

"The Water Cube's design was initiated by a team effort: the Chinese partners felt a square was more symbolic to Chinese culture and its relationship to the Bird's Nest stadium, while the Sydney based partners came up with the idea of covering the 'cube' with bubbles, symbolising water. Contextually the cube symbolises earth whilst the circle (represented by the stadium) represents heaven. Hence symbolically the water cube references Chinese symbolic architecture." (Wikipedia)

This was the last leg of our Beijing tour.  After the Olympic Green, we went straight to the airport to check in for our 1am Cebu Pacific Air flight back to the Philippines.

The Beijing experience was a truly fantastic family bonding moment for us.  Make it yours too!