On our last day in Beijing we visited the architectural wonders of the Olympic park. Four years on from the event I was surprised at how clean and well kept this space was although it is more than evident that many of the buildings have been empty for ages and that the space is a bit too vast to be filled properly.
Let it suffice to say that between one tube stop and the other we walked about half an hour.
We weren’t there long, but every day we spent in Beijing was sunny and bright. I honestly didn’t sense any of the terrible pollution although of course if you are next to one of the ring roads it’s a bit smelly. I suppose I was lucky but there you go.
The sensation of space was amazing and although there were people visiting the site and going to the winter wonderland set up for kids within the stadium it felt a bit like the moon.
The inside of the super clean stadium also known as the Bird’s Nest.
That sky is so blue it’s hard to believe tha pollution is a problem. Electric shocks from the static yes, those I did experience at a rate of about 7 a day, sigh!
Olympic seating should be a sport in itself…
There’s an amazing view from the higher levels of the stadium although the actual structure didn’t impress me that much as it felt sort of plastic-y rather than the steel giant that I was expecting.
The winter wonderland set up for kids.
Apparently the building below is supposed to look like a microchip. I suppose it does, but aside from that I rather like it. It’s been named the Digital Beijing Building.
More of the iconic landscapes from the Olympic village. Wonder what London will leave behind?
The Beijing landscape is fascinating with its mix between ultra-modern and industrial (eg the smoke coming out of that factory just behind the stadium). Kind of reminded me of Futurist paintings like the following : Sironi, Paesaggio Urbano
What do you think?
worldnosh 
