Beijing National Stadium Tour/Bird Nest

The National Stadium, also named the Bird Nest, was the main venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Located in the Olympic Green, its vast scale and dramatic form will create a new icon for China and the City of Beijing. Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize Gainer Jacques Herzog, de Meuron and Chinese Architect Li Xinggang, it shaped as a 'bird nest', like a cradle, and the circular form of the Stadium represents Heaven, while the adjacent square form of the National Aquatics Center (the Water Cube), also designed-engineered by Arup, is a reflection of the Chinese symbol for Earth.

The National Stadium began on December 24, 2003 and was completed in March, 2008, with total construction cost of more than 2.2 billion. It is 333 meters long from north to south, 294 meters wide from east to west, and the highest point is 68.5 meters and lowest point is 42.8 meters. It is largest world's steel structure.

Beijing National Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletic events, and football final of the 2008 Summer Olympics, from 8 August to 24 August 2008. The stadium also hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and athletic events of the 2008 Summer Paralympics. However, it has not found significant use since the Olympics, and the venue's owners announced the stadium would be turned into a shopping and entertainment complex in three to five years. The venue costs approx. $9 million to maintain each year, so it would continue to host international and domestic sporting events or develop as a tourism spot.

The National Stadium is designed in such a way that the visitors will be left wondering which aspects of the structure are functional and which have been included for appearance alone. The Stadium combines a sense of chaos with one of order. 

- Click to read the most detailed travel info and guide of Beijing National Aquatic Center and Olympic Green.

Location: located in the Olympic Green, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Opening Hours: 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays; 09:00 to 21:30 on weekends and public holidays

How to get there

Subway: Subway line 8 (Olympic Special Line): get off at Olympic Sports Center Station, and get off from Exit B1 or B2 and walk north.

Bus

1. Take bus no. 82, 538 or 611 and get off at National Stadium East Station.
2. Take bus no. 18, 108, 124, 207, 328, 380, 387, 409, 426, 558, 653, 694, 758, 803, 849, 985 or 特2 and get off at National Olympic Sports Center East Gate Station.
3. Take bus no. 84 or 407 and get off at National Olympic Sports Center West Gate Station.

Weather/Best Time to Go

Beijing enjoys four distinctive seasons owning to its humid continental climate, ranging from very warm during the summer: 28ºC to 38ºC (82ºF to 93ºF), to chilly and dry during the winter: -10ºC to 10ºC (14ºF to 50ºF).

All of the year is suitable for your Beijing National Stadium tour. A sunny day is much better, so forecast Beijing weather of your tour.

Travel Tips

• You can also visit the neighboring attractions such as the National Aquatics Center and the National Indoor Stadium.
• You can pay a little bit money to ski in the National Stadium.
• Security check is needed at the entrance. Cigarette lighters and other things of possible danger are prohibitted to take in.