Sunday July 5 - The 2008 Olympic Grounds

Ray's pick for the day was to visit the "Olympic Green", the huge development that was constructed for the 2008 Olympics. The area includes a large landscaped park, an Olympic village, and various stadia including the National Olympic Stadium (affectionately known as the "Bird's Nest") and the Swimming Centre (affectionately known as the "Water Cube". There were other buildings as well such as the National Indoor Stadium which we did not pay to go in but passed by. Always game for an adventure, we decided to travel by metro. We left our hotel on Line 1 at the Wanshou Lu metro stop; changed to Line 5 at Dongden; changed to Line 8; then changed to line 10 to take us up into the Olympic Green about an hour later. When we stepped out of the metro station, the immensity of the area was overwhelming and we literally didn't have a clue where to go. There seemed to be a central road area with a beautiful water and park area, complete with pretty wild flowers, and then we spotted the Bird's Nest and headed for that. On the way, we found a map, and were able to somewhat orientate ourselves. One of the things we, or maybe I, have found confusing about site-seeing in China is the lack of written information and maps. The areas are usually huge, and its difficult to know where exactly you are and the best way of viewing the site. Anyway, we paid our Y50 each and went inside. As a stadium, I didn't think that it was as fantastic a structure as Toronto's Rogers Dome, but the stadium vibrated with the emotions that were experienced there: the nerves of the competition; the despair of losing; and the thrill of winning your event and taking your place on the podium in front of the thousands of peple there. We walked around in awe listening to the inspiring Olympic music and watching the Olympic replays on the huge video screen. Opposite the Bird's Nest is the Water Cube and we crossed over the wide concrete avenue and lined up to buy our tickets for that. Although nothing much to look at on the outside, inside the main pool area and diving board was very colourful with all the flags of the various countries competing around the ceiling and the beatiful blue colour of the water and the blues and yellows of the colourful diving boards. The day was really hot and muggy and very hazy, so we were quite happy when we made it back to the subway. We stopped at Xidan for a late lunch and to see if I could find the bookshop mentioned in the Lonely Planet, but, couldn't. So we came back to the hotel for a couple of hours before heading back out to meet the two guys at the Night Market on Donganmen Street just off Wanfujing Street. We left a little early because I knew there was another bookstore there. We found an even bigger bookstore, the "Wanfujing Bookstore", and went to the third floor (as directed by LP for the other book shop) and found all kinds of books in English. Ended up buying two in a big hurry and went on our way to meet the guys. About 5 mins later, as we were walking through the Wanfujing Pedestrian Street, the heavens opened and we were in the middle of a dramatic thunderstorm; lightening, loud peels of thunder, and torrential rain. Everyone rushed for cover through the instantly accumulated inches of rain, and we ran to the doorway of a department store to seek shelter from the driving rain. The umbrellas came out in huge numbers: people in yellow rain ware were running up and down the street selling new ones. All the "parasols" of the sunny afternoon suddenly became umbrellas, many of them turned inside out, and we looked out of our shelter over a sea of pouring rain dotted with colourful umbrellas. The rain lasted abut half an hour and eventually Ray went off to buy an umbrella! I imagined walking down the street with a pretty blue or pink umbrella, but he came back with some sort of blue plaid!! Oh well, it served a purpose. We walked up to where we were meeting the guys and of course they had gone. So, had most of the people at the Night Market. All the vendors were still there with various lamb, scorpions, intestines, etc. on sticks waiting to be barbecued. But the fun was out of it all; we were a little chilly, a little wet; and a little tired. We looked for a restaurant to eat in but it was all very weird food. We ended up in a rather grotty restaurant about 9:30; had some chicken, celery. and rice. We ate quickly, and caught the subway about 7 or 8 stops back to our hotel. Chris and Jon were waiting for us on the way in. They got soaked too and decided just to go and eat as well. By this time it was just after 11 so it was straight to bed.