Monday, February 22, 2010

Inside the Nest

Do all these twisted steel beams look familiar to you? You might have seen them on tv during the 2008 Summer Olympics Games.


If you guessed the Beijing National Stadium or "Bird's Nest", you are correct.
On my trip, I got a chance to visit the Nest, but on a day when I, along with all these tourists, were pelted with hail. If you look closely at the ground, you can see all the white pebbles.


The 80,000 seat interior is quite impressive and you can almost imagine the thunderous applause and the beating of the drums during the Opening Ceremonies. But unfortunately these days, it stands fairly quiet and used mainly as a tourist attraction.


- Karen

7 comments:

rainfield61 said...

I can never forget how great the Bird's Nest was during the Olympic Games.

Rick (Ratty) said...

That is a very interesting building. I don't really watch the Olympics, but after seeing that I wish I did. Even the seats have an interesting design.

Neva said...

My son lives in Beijing and he was VERY impressed with most all of the structures but this one he really liked. The Beijing Olympics will be hard to top.

jam said...

Wow! Bird Nest! A nice piece of modern style architecture. I would like to be there one day too!

Joanne Olivieri said...

Wow, amazing shots Karen and how cool to see it in person.

AVCr8teur said...

Rainfield61: Doesn't it bring back good memories. Also, the "Water Cube" was next door.

Ratty: You're right. I wonder if the red & white seat color scheme mean anything or if those are random.

Neva: Nice to hear from you! The building architecture in Beijing are utterly amazing. I wished I had more time to photograph all of them.

Jam: It boggles the mind on how they put it all together. It's like a puzzle.

Poetic Shutterbug: It was the highlight of my trip!

Mandy said...

Gosh, it looks massive from the outside but you get a real feel for how massive it is from that interior photo. I love the red seats! It looks very smart!