Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium Highlight Of Visit To Beijing Site Of 2008 Olympics.

Train journey number two lasted about 28 hours taking us from Nanning to Beijing, where we were met by Kate and a new driver named Wu. The first thing we asked was, ''When can we go to see the Bird's Nest Stadium ?'' and were told not to be so impatient ! Kate and Wu took us to the waiting car and then on to our hotel. When the Concierge took us to our room, he decided that it was too far away from the lift, so told us not to unpack, as he would later arrange for us to be moved to a more convenient room. Two hours later the porters came to arrange the transfer to a room on the same floor, but a much bigger room at the front of the hotel. There was always something interesting going on below, but no sight of the Bird's Nest Stadium ! Gazing out of the window with a cup of Chinese tea in hand, was quite satisfying! The first day in Beijing was the only day during the 30 day China visit, when we had any rain, all the other days were warm and sunny.

The main reason for this particular visit to Beijing was to visit the site of the Olympic Games that would be held in August 2008. Wu drove us from the hotel to the part of the road that borders the Olympic site, around which a high screen fence had been erected. There were a lot of Chinese people nearby all trying to get a glimpse of the main Olympic stadium, called the ''Bird's Nest'', because from the outside it certainly looks like one. What's this!? What's this!? Part of the ''fence'' had been forced apart to leave a gap through which the whole Olympic site could be seen. People were queuing up to look through the gap, so I joined the queue. Later, Wu drove us to another part of the road, where an entrance to the site of the Olympic Games, was guarded by two uniformed men. I asked one of them if we could swap clothes for a short time so that I could get onto the site to take some photos of the Bird's Nest Stadium. No Luck ! He just smiled and shook his head, so we moved to another entrance that had a watchman on duty.

Kate was able to persuade him to let us get onto the Olympic Site for a few minutes so that the ''foreigner'' could take some photos of the Bird's Nest Stadium and of the National Swimming Center; we were at last in luck! The ''Bird's Nest'' is the main Olympic Stadium where all the ceremonies and some other Olympic events will take place. Next to the ''Bird's Nest'' is the National Swimming Center, sometimes called the ''Bubble Building'' and both these buildings are very impressive. At the time of our visit the Olympic Site was occupied mostly by the construction workers and machinery, so there was less chance of our views being obstructed. When the Beijing 2008 Olympics opens in August 2008, the site will be crowded with the competitors and visitors, presenting a much different challenge than the one we faced in taking some photos of the two main stadia, the Bird's Nest, and the Bubble Building !