Bird's Nest Stadium

The National Stadium was designed by Herzog and de Meuron with the artist Ai Weiwei as consultant, and its structure of interwoven steel members, weighing tens of thousands of tonnes, gave it the nickname it has been known by ever since. It seated around ninety thousand for the 2008 Olympics and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of both the 2008 Summer Games and the 2022 Winter Games, the only stadium to have done so. Visitors can walk the concourses and stands. Beside it stands the Water Cube, the aquatics centre with its bubble-wall skin, converted partly into a water park and used for curling in 2022, and the Olympic Green stretches north.

History

In April 2003 the design by Herzog & de Meuron with the China Architecture Design and Research Group under Li Xinggang won from thirteen final entries; the team took its idea from the study of Chinese ceramics, and the artist Ai Weiwei was its artistic consultant. Its random-looking steel was first meant to hide the supports of a retractable roof, which was later dropped from the design; ground was broken on 24 December 2003, the stadium cost US$428 million and opened on 28 June 2008 for the Olympic Games (Wikipedia, Beijing National Stadium).

What's there

• The steel lattice - the interwoven structure that gave the stadium its name.
• The bowl - the stands and field, walked on a visitor circuit.
• The Water Cube - the bubble-skinned aquatics centre alongside.
• The Olympic Green - the park, observation tower and axis running north.

When to go

April to May and September to October for Beijing's clearest weather; the buildings are lit at night, which is when most photographs are taken. Events close the stadium to visitors, so checking the schedule helps.

Before you go

Entry is charged and the interior is a bare stadium bowl, which underwhelms visitors expecting exhibits. The Olympic Green is vast, exposed and requires a lot of walking. The area is quiet outside event days.

Nearby

The Water Cube is adjacent; the Olympic Forest Park lies north.

Key facts