What do they plan to do with the Bird Nest?

Someone ask me what does Beijing plan to do with the stadiums when they are probably completed 1 year ahead of schedule.

Well, the Chinese are determined that NOTHING goes wrong. So, they have planned for be a series of pre-Games tournaments to test out ALL the stadiums before the Games. This whole series of international events is officially called "Good Luck, Bejing!". In fact, the Chinese had already started testing the Fengtai Softball Stadium and the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Regatta from Aug this year!

Some events that has been announced for the Bird Nest are:

Race walking IAAF Race Walking Challenge 2008.04.19-04.20
Marathon 2008 China Open 2008.04.20
Athletics China Open 2008.05.22-05.25

Functions during the Games: Athletics, Football;
Post-Games use: The Stadium is to stage sports events at national and international levels,as well as cultural and entertaining activities. The sitting capacity is expected to reduced from 91000 during the games to 80000.

Height of the stadium: 41m/135ft to 68m/223 ft
Maximum Length (Major axis): 333m/1093 ft
Maximum Width (Minor axis): 297m/974 ft
Weight: 45,000 tonnes
Cost: US$422,000,000

(BEIJING, Nov. 30) -- With the finishing of the hoisting project, the main structures of the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games have all completed.

The key steps of the construction of the main stadium, also called "the Bird's Nest," are moving to the installation of its membranes, fit-ups and decorations, installation of electromechanical equipment and the outdoor engineering project.

The hoisting project, crucial in the stadium's construction, was arranged into two phases. The main structures' hoisting project started on October 28, 2005 and ended on August 31, 2006. The sub-structures' hoisting was done between September 17 and November 30, 2006.

The Bird's Nest underwent two other major steps this year. On August 31 the welding process was completed on its main steel structures and on September 17, its supportive structures were successfully removed. The engineering and technical staff as well as the workers overcame many difficulties in the construction process.


This is the last 5m steel beam to be fitted.


Secured!

Wanna ticket to the opening ceremony?

The Beijing Olympic Committee has finally decided on the ticket prices for the competition!



For competition preliminary events, the price ranges from 30 to 300 rmb (US$3.80 to US$38.30).

For competition finals, the price range from 60 to 1000 rmb (US$7.70 to US$127.60)

For the opening ceremony, the price range from 200 to 5000 rmb (US$25.50 to US$638.20)

For the closing ceremony, the price range from 150 to 3000 rmb (US$19.10 to US$382.90)

Most importantly, the committee has reserved 14% of the tickets and fixed them at a special price to encourage chinese youth to watch the games live! These tickets will be directly marketed to the students at 5 rmb (US$0.63) for preliminaries and 10 rmb (US$1.27) for the finals!
Man! Are they lucky!!! The tickets will be opened for purchase from the first half of 2007.
Read More

Tianjin Olympic Stadium almost complete!

This beautiful stadium is used for preliminary soccer matches.

Han Meilin - the Man behind the Running Man and Fuwas

Here's an interesting news article about the man who designed the 'Fuwa' and the logo of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. In essense, this 70 year old man by the name of Han Meilin is ranked as a first-class artist in China.

He's rewarded with 1 yuan (USD$0.13) for his designs....