The National Stadium/Bird’s Nest

 

Information of the Bird’s Nest

Chinese Name: 国家体育场/鸟巢 Pronunciation: Guójiā Tǐyùchǎng/Niǎocháo

English Name: National Stadium/Bird’s Nest

Suggested Visiting Hours: 1-2 Hour

Building Time: 2008

Stadium Area: About 25,8000 square meters

Address: Inside the Olympic Park, No.9 Tianchen East Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Building Function: As a competition terrain of the 29^th Olympic Games was held in Beijing

 

Admission Ticket Fee

Visitors	Price
Adult: Age19-59	50 yuan
Child: Age 6-18	25 yuan

• Tips:

1. Free for children no taller than 1.2 meters.
2. Joint ticket for National Stadium(Bird’s Nest) and National Swimming Center (The Water Cube) is 80 yuan.

 

Opening Time

Visiting Time	Opening Hours
Daytime Visit	9:00-19:00
Evening Visit	18:30-21:30

 

Brief Introduction of the Bird’s Nest

The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) is the main stadium for the 29th Summer Olympic Games. It is located in the central area of Beijing Olympic Park and covers an area of 20.4 hectares with a construction area of 258,000 square meters and a seating capacity of 91,000 spectators. The opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympics Games, the athletics and football finals have been held here. The Bird's Nest has become a large professional venue for Beijing citizens to participate in sports activities and enjoy sports entertainment and is called a landmark sports building and the Olympic Legacy. It was built with an investment of 3 billion yuan.
 

In the 2008 Olympic Games, Bird's Nest in Beijing shocked the whole world and it has become a model of stadiums around the world. Now China has used Bird's Nest to blaze a trail with Chinese characteristics. After hosting the Beijing Olympic Games, Bird's Nest has formed a business model integrating business, tourism, and enterprise. Many stars have held concerts in the Bird's Nest, such as Zhang Jie, Jackie Chan, Wang Feng, and so on.
 

Today's Bird's Nest is more than a building. It not only witnessed the success of the 2008 Olympic Games but also carries the pride of our Chinese nation. Besides, it also protected the dreams of our athletes. So it has become the true "Bird's Nest" of the Chinese people's hearts.
 

The National Stadium is a first-class sports building, and the main structure was designed to last for 100 years. The main structure was made of a series of steel trusses around the bowl-shaped seating area in the shape of an oval bird's nest, 333 meters long from north to south, 296 meters wide from east to west, and 69 meters high at the highest point. The construction of the National Stadium began on December 24, 2003, and was completed on June 28, 2008.
 

The National Stadium sits on a plinth that rises gently from the ground and is accessible from the Olympic Park. To the north of the plinth is a sunken warm-up field, which is connected with the playing field in the home court through the players' tunnel. The upper part of the stadium plinth consists of seven floors, with spectator services, media working areas, VIP reception areas, and commercial areas. The lower part of the base consists of three levels, with zero levels internal loop, parking and a large number of functional rooms. The bowl-shaped grandstand is divided into three levels: upper, middle and lower and there are boxes and seating areas between the upper and middle grandstand.
 

• Facilities

  

  The Inner of the National Stadium

The design outline of the National Stadium requires that the design of it should fully embody the thought of sustainable development by using the world’s advanced technology and feasible environmental protection building materials. The use of natural ventilation and natural lighting should be maximized. The aspects in energy and resource-saving, solid waste treatment, electromagnetic radiation, light pollution protection and substitute products for ozone-depleting substance (ODS) application met the requirements of the Olympic project environmental protection guide request and have reached the international advanced level to some extent, which set up a model of environmental protection.
 

• Scientific Facilities

The design outline of the National Stadium requires that the design of the National Stadium should take full account of high technology represented by information technology, new materials, environmental protection and other technologies.  Through the adoption of reliable, mature, advanced high-tech achievements, the National Stadium reached the requirements in architecture, structure, building materials, environmental protection, energy-saving, intelligentization, etc.
 

Besides, it became a new stadium with people-oriented information service, convenient and reliable means of communication, a comfortable environment and advanced, reliable security features. The design reflects the modern nature and advanced science and technology of the Olympic venues, making them a window to show China's high-tech achievements and innovative strength.
 

• Humanistic Facilities

The design outline of the National Stadium requires that the design of the National Stadium should be conducive to the popularization of the Olympic spirit and the promotion of the excellent Chinese traditional culture, and should give full consideration to the needs of all types of personnel, including the handicapped and those with mobility barriers to establish an appropriate cultural environment. In the aspect of humanistic care, the design has made a detailed design on architectural function and operation to reflect humanistic care.
 

Its design highlights the functional requirements of the people inside the building. The decoration reflects the cultural connotation of the world.

The entire facility provides athletes with an ideal environment for competition and rest.

The working conditions and facilities requirements of the media and journalists were concerned.
 

International logo design not only to meet the general habits of people, but also to take into account the international universality.

 

History of the National Stadium

On December 24, 2003, the construction of the National Stadium began.
 

On June 28, 2008, it was completed.

 

Big Events Happened in Bird’s Nest

• The 29th Olympic Games(in 2008)
  

  Opening Ceremony of 2008 Olympic Games

The open ceremony of the 29th Summer Olympic Games was held at 8 PM on August 8, 2008, and the close ceremony is on August 24, 2008. There were 204 participating countries and regions and 11,438 athletes. More than 60,000 athletes, coaches and officials attended the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. A total of 43 new world records and 132 new Olympic records were set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 87 countries and regions won medals in the games. China topped the gold medal table with 51 gold medals, making it the first Asian country in Olympic history to reach the top of the gold medal table. It expressed the aspiration of 1.3 billion Chinese people to contribute to the building of a peaceful and better world.

 

• 2015 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing
  

  Flag Handing over Ceremony

The 2015 IAAF World Championships were held at the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) from Aug 22 to Aug 30. Nearly 2,000 athletes from 207 countries and regions gathered in the Bird's Nest stadium to compete at the largest competition with the largest number of participants. Chinese athletes performed well. They won one gold, seven silver and one bronze, ranking the fourth in the world in total medals, which was the best result of the Chinese track and field team at the World Championships during the previous 22 years.
 

• The 2018 China-Canada Ice and Snow Cultural Exchange Activity

  

  Ice and Snow Cultural Exchange Activity

January 21 is World Snow Day and the International Children's Ski Festival, and the Bird's Nest had a special friend on that day in 2018. Nine-year-old Canadian genius snowboarder Prodigy Eli Bouchard pulled off a remarkable feat at the Bird's Nest by performing continuous backflip 720 degrees, all the audience cheered.
 

Eli was the youngest athlete in the world to do this. His appearance was a highlight of the China-Canada Ice and Snow Cultural Exchange Activity jointly held by the Bird's Nest and Quebec. On that day, Philippe Couillard, a provincial governor of Quebec, Canada, led a delegation of youth and entrepreneurs to the Bird's Nest, held the Quebec Ice and Snow Carnival and many international ice and snow cultural exchange activities with Chinese skiers. At the same time, the Quebec Youth Hockey Team and the Beijing Canadian International School Youth Hockey Team also presented an exciting and intense friendly match at the Bird's Nest ice arena.
 

This event also brought the Quebec Winter outdoor and tourism sports equipment exhibition to the skiers. And two thousand of Quebec's most famous traditional dishes, maple syrup popsicles, were also handed out  for free, giving visitors a taste of exotic flavors.
 

It was reported that the Bird's Nest and the Ice and Snow Park with an area of more than 60,000 square meters have been fully opened, with more than 20 ice and snow fitness activities, such as snowboarding, skating, ice hockey, curling, snowfield football and snow kart. Among them, there were more than a dozen items for tourists to experience for free.
 

• Concerts

  

  Concerts

As a super sports venue in China, the Bird's Nest had naturally held many international influential competitions such as the Olympic Games, and many artists and singers held concerts during the non-competition period. Being able to stage a concert in the Bird's Nest is not only a testament of competence but also an influence. Therefore, in these years, many singers have chosen the Bird's Nest as the venue. The singers who have held individual concerts in the Bird's Nest include Hua Chenyu, Mayday, Eason Chen, Zhang Jie, etc.
 

One of the leading figures in contemporary Chinese music, Eason Chan, who has many fans. There is no need to say much about Eason's position in today's Chinese music field. It can be said that he is the leading and central figure. In 2015, Eason held concerts around the world. He arranged his finale in the Bird's Nest. According to the original plan, this concert was only intended to be held once in the Bird's Nest. However, due to the enthusiastic response of fans, he had to hold a second concert to meet the demands of them.
 

Although tickets for the concert were hard to get and the price was astronomical, that did not stop the fans. On the first day of the concert, 80,000 fans came to their idol's concert. The atmosphere was unusually animated.

 

How to Reach the National Stadium

 By Bus

a. Take Bus No. 82, 419, 538, or 645 and get off at Guojiatiyuchang Station(National Stadium Station);

b. Take Bus No.82, 419, 538 or Night 34 and get off at Beichen Donglu Station;

c. Take Bus Sightseeing 3 and get off at Beichen Donglu (Niaochao) Station;

d. Take Bus No. 386, 407, 658,740, 613, 645or 490 and get off at Yayuncun Station(Asian Sports Village Station).
 

 By Subway

Take Line8 and get off at The Olympic Park Station.
 

By Taxi

Chinese: 请带我去国家体育馆/鸟巢。English: Please take me to The National Stadium (Bird's Nest).

If you go to The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) from the center of Beijing (Tian’anmen Square), it takes about 30 minutes (55 yuan).

If you go to The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) from the Beijing Capital International Airport, it takes about 40 minutes (85 yuan).

If you go to The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) from the Beijing Daxing International Airport, it takes about 90 minutes (252 yuan).

If you go to The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) from the Beijing West Train Station, it takes about 40 minutes (70 yuan).