Imperial parks, used either for sacrifices to the gods or for leisure activities, were once off-limits to the common folk. Now the parks are overrun with them, particularly just after dawn, when the older generation turns out in force to practice taijiquan and ballroom dancing, or to chat and show off their caged birds (zou niao).
The Olympic Green and Olympic Forest Park
Everything in Beijing is big. Tian'an Men Square is roughly the size of 90 football fields, wandering through the Forbidden City feels like a mini-marathon, and of course the Great Wall is . . . very long. It is fitting then that hosting the Olympics in Beijing means building awe-inspiring, people-dwarfing structures. And all at a sizeable price tag of $40 billion.
Beijing's Olympic Green will be the main Olympics attraction, both during and after the Games. It is about a 30-minute drive north of the Forbidden City and covers an area roughly six times the size of Athens' Olympic Green and three times the size of New York's Central Park. The main attractions here will be the Beijing National Stadium and National Aquatics Center, both of which were still being built at time of writing. The former has been nicknamed "the Bird's Nest" because of its oblong shape and interlocking steel grids that closely resemble the twigs and branches of, well, a bird's nest. The original design featured an innovative retractable roof, but with only one year left to the XXIX Olympiad, roof plans were scrapped due to cost and time pressures. But even without a fancy convertible-like ceiling, the Bird's Nest will be an impressive architectural feat. It was designed by architecture darlings Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, cost roughly $400 million, and can hold 91,000 spectators. It will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as athletics events and football. A healthy stone's throw away is the Aquatics Center, dubbed "the Water Cube" (it's actually a rectangle, but "Water Rectangle" didn't have the same ring). From the outside, if all goes according to plan, it will look like a giant cube made up of hundreds of suspended aqua bubbles. Swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo events will be held here. Both venues are slated for cultural and entertainment events post-Olympics. North of the Water Cube is the National Indoor Stadium, which will host gymnastics and handball events. Its design plays on the theme of a traditional Chinese folding fan. Unlike its neighbors, it doesn't have a cutesy nickname, perhaps because "The Fan" has a slightly stalkerish sound to it.
Behind the Olympic Green will be the Olympic Forest Park. At 640 hectares (1,581 acres), this back garden of the Olympic Games will be Beijing's largest city park. During the Olympics, the park will host tennis, archery, and hockey events. Afterwards visitors will flock to this spacious bit of greenery to check out Main Mountain, a man-made pile of 3.98 million cubic meters (141 million cubic ft.) of earth, and Main Lake, a 110-hectare (272-acre, roughly 205 football fields) body of water shaped like the Olympic torch. The park will be open to the public on September 30, 2008. At time of writing, folks at the Olympic committee had not yet decided on admission fees.
