The jewels of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Beijing National stadium (aka “The Bird’s Nest”) and the Beijing National Aquatics Center (aka “The Water Cube”), no longer host athletes from the world but still sparkle every night.
We were excited to have Steph’s Dad visit for 10 days in March. While he was here he arranged for us to visit the two buildings. We toured the arenas, along with throngs of bussed-in Chinese tourists. We snapped lots of pictures (seen below) and were constantly ushered along by a small battalion of guards, guides, caretakers and custodians.
The Chinese authorities have been hard pressed to find an act to fill the Bird’s Nest’s 80,000 seats. But just this week the first concert to be held in the Beijing National Stadium was announced. And who will be headlining China’s biggest venue? None other than Jackie Chan. Yeah, maybe you didn’t know it, but Chan is quite the renaissance man. According to Wikipedia, he’s released 20 albums and trained at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. “Jackie Chan & His Friends” will be rocking the Nest May 1.
Lots more pictures after the jump.
