Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
point the occasional group of map-clutching domestic tourists to the signature National
Stadium, known colloquially as the Bird's Nest ( Niǎocháo). Occasional events are held
here, but it's generally empty. Nevertheless, it's still an iconic piece of architecture, as is
the bubble-covered Water Cube next door, which now houses
Happy Magic Water Park
. The site is around 7km north of the city centre.
CHINA SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM
( Zhōngguó Kējìguǎn; 5 Beichendong Lu, adult/child ¥30/20; 9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun; South Gate of Forest Park)
About 8km north of the city centre, and a big favourite with kids, this huge facility has an
array of hands-on scientific exhibitions, a science playground and state-of-the-art 3D and
'4D' cinemas. Walk east from South Gate of Forest Park subway station, then take the
second right (10 minutes).
|MUSEUM
THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN
With the spectacularly successful 2008 Olympics now a long-faded memory, the 'Bird's Nest Stadium', the
iconic centrepiece of the Games, now stands forlorn and empty. Having staged just a handful of sports events
since the Olympics, as well as a few music concerts, the $450 million venue is not so much a shrine to sporting
excellence as a redundant symbol of the most expensive games ever staged.
While a dwindling number of mostly domestic tourists still roll up to have their photos taken on the running
track, no one seems sure what to do with the innovative stadium, or how to raise the estimated $15 million a
year needed to maintain it. Rumours of theme parks and shopping malls being built next door still abound. But
until those plans come to fruition, the rust will continue to gather on the intricate steel structure that held the
world's attention for one brief month in 2008.
The Happy Magic Water Park has at least turned the Olympic swimming venue, which stands alongside the
Bird's Nest, into a popular, albeit expensive leisure facility, and the mountain biking venue and velodrome are
still well used, but other less high-profile venues stand abandoned and in some cases dilapidated on the outskirts
of the city. The former venues for kayaking, baseball and beach volleyball, for example, are now little more
than a collection of beat-up, disused structures surrounded by overgrown patches of wasteland.
