On our last day in Beijing, we headed out on the subway to the Olympic Park to visit the National Stadium, otherwise known as the Bird's Nest, the centerpiece of the Beijing 2008 games. After fending off unwanted taxi drivers who wanted to take us across the road - there was a perfectly good bridge - and having wandered around for half an hour trying to find an ATM, we finally paid our money and went into the stadium. It's an incredible sight and they have huge screens at both ends, playing highlights from the games. I have to say that both Cliff and I had tears in our eyes. Liam was too busy climbing to the the top seats to cry.
It seems such a shame that since the Olympics the stadium has had little use, although they have recently had a snow park in the middle - we saw the snow being cleared away during our visit. They seem to be missing a trick as whilst there are a couple of well-stocked gift stores where Liam bought a mug, and a frankly bizarre opportunity to have your photo taken with a waxwork of any number of previous IOC Chairmen, they don't offer any kind of guided tour. You are left to your own devices and can walk anywhere in the stadium.
We also saw the impressive Water Cube where the swimming events took place. Then it was back to the guest house to collect our bags for our overnight train journey to Xi'an.
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