National Olympic Stadium, Beijing

The National Olympic Stadium is the centrepiece of Beijing's Olympic Village. It is also known as the Beijing National Stadium, and often dubbed the Bird's Nest. It is located in Olympic Green, the Olympic Park of Beijing. Built at a cost of US$423 million, the National Olympic Stadium is the world's largest steel structure.

The National Olympic Stadium of Beijing was designed by the Swiss architecture firm of Herzog & de Meuron. It was a winner out of thirteen finalist designs. The idea was to create an intertwined ribbon of steel to hide the support for a retractable roof. However, the roof was eventually removed from the design.

Bird Nest Stadium at night


The elimination of the retractable roof was partly the result of the collapse of the roof at Terminal 2E of the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing four of which two were Chinese citizens. Furthermore, the decision to eliminate the retractable roof reduced the cost of the project by over US$100 million.

Construction began on 24 December 2003. Beijing National Stadium was officially opened on 28 June, 2008.

Inside Beijing National Stadium


The National Olympic Stadium is located near other Olympic architectural wonders of Beijing, including the Indoor Stadium and the Swimming Center.

How to reach the National Olympic Stadium

Take the subway to the Olympic Park station.

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