Beijing Olympic Park (Bird's Nest and Water Cube)
Main Venue Of The 2008 Summer And 2022 Winter Olympic Games; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Beijing, Beijing
The vast Olympic Green in northern Beijing, built on the northward extension of the city's ancient central axis for the 2008 Summer Olympics and reused for the 2022 Winter Games, which made Beijing the first city ever to host both. Its centrepiece is the National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, a colossal oval of interwoven steel beams designed by the Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron with the China Architecture Design and Research Group and the artist Ai Weiwei as consultant; it held the opening and closing ceremonies of both Games. Across the plaza stands the National Aquatics Center, the Water Cube, whose walls of blue, bubble-like ETFE cushions glowed as Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in 2008; in 2022 its pool was covered with ice for curling and it was renamed the Ice Cube. Visitors can tour both venues, walk around the top of the Bird's Nest, and see the rippling National Speed Skating Oval, the Ice Ribbon, built for 2022. The Olympic Tower, shaped like five stalks of grass, offers views over the whole axis, and the huge Olympic Forest Park to the north has lakes, hills and running trails. At night the stadiums are lit in shifting colours, and concerts, football matches and ice events keep the venues busy.
National Stadium, 1 National Stadium South Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, Beijing, China
Olympic Green open at all hours. Bird's Nest 10:00-22:00, last ticket 21:00 (official, September 2026); Water Cube about 9:00-18:00. Tours close for events.
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