Today we headed north of Beijing to the Olympic Park, and to see the bird’s nest for real. Before we got that far though we spotted the Olympic Tower, it’s hugely tall. This is another attraction in Beijing/China where you need tickets to get in, and a passport. Passport not a problem, we carry them everywhere here because you have to. Bought tickets in two-minutes from trip.com, so we’re off to the top.
I won’t provide the full run down of it’s stats, other than to say it’s top floor is at 248 metres, and a lot of floors to go up in the lift. If you want all the detail you can check it out here, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Olympic_Tower. The view from the top would have been absolutely stunning had it not been another smoggy day, which most have been in Beijing. The top had a large glass wall which kept all the wind off, so it was quite nice to walk the full 360 degrees, and stand on the glass panels which allow you to look straight down, if you dare.
The park is very large, and very popular with the locals who were visiting for the day. There was some cultural dancing, some ‘poor’ singing which I hope was karaoke. There was younger kids learning to ride their bicycle and various keep fit. The length of the park extended into the horizon as we kept walking towards the bird’s nest.
This stadium us something else to see in the ‘flesh’. Like most other sites we have seen so far, and will probably see along our trip, we have seen the pictures, read the history and information about the place before we see it ourselves. However, it’s something else to see these sites up close and personal. Seeing the bird’s nest was like that, most people viewed it I don’t know how many times during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We couldn’t actually believe the Olympics in Beijing were in 2008 and had to verify that with Google.
On the way back from the Olympic Park to our hotel we stopped for dinner at somewhere that I had on my list of must do’s; Peking Duck. It’s another one of those things you must do when visiting Beijing as this is where is originates. And if you’re not sure why it’s called Peking Duck, and not Beijing Duck then read this blog, Ahh, Peking Duck.
