Bird's Nest and Water Cube（鳥(niǎo)巢、水立方）

Bird's Nest and Water Cube [zhaobeijing.com]

As Beijing dazzled the world with the spectacular Olympic Games in 2008, the impressive Olympic structures, Bird's nest and its neighboring Water Cube, have become popular attractions ever since.

The Bird's Nest, officially known as the National Stadium, is the main track and field stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and gained the nickname for its innovative grid formation.

The twig-like structural elements and the bowl-shaped roof are the masterpiece of the project, yet they pose great challenges for technicians and workers to make the building stand on its own feet.

The ground was broken in 2003, and the construction took more than four years to complete. It was built with 36 kilometers (22.37 miles) of unwrapped steel, with a combined weight of 45,000 tons. The stadium has some 11,000 square meters (1.1 hectares) of underground rooms with waterproof walls. The stadium can seat as many as 91,000 spectators.

What located right next to the National Stadium is the Beijing National Aquatics Center, also colloquially known as the Water Cube.

The center was built alongside the stadium in the Olympic Green for the swimming competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Despite its nickname, the building is not an actual cube, but a rectangular box. The ground was also broken in 2003, and completed and handed over for use in 2008. Swimmers at the Water Cube broke 25 world records during the 2008 Olympics.

After the Olympics, the building underwent a 200-million-yuan (US$31.53 million) revamp to turn half of its interior into a water park. The building officially reopened on August 8, 2010.

Admission: Bird's Nest: 50 yuan (US$7.88)/person

                      Water Cube: 30 yuan (US$4.73)/person