Olympic Stadium

We spent the last few days visiting Beijing, China. Of course one of our first stops was the Olympic Stadium, specifically the Bird's Nest and the Cube. The lighting of each structure in the evening was pretty, and I was surprised to get some decent shots without a tripod.

The weather was so hot (over 36°C with 70% humidity) that day that we hibernated indoors during the day and slowly sneaked out upon the dusk. It turns out that we were not alone with this idea. The entire square was full of people, just hanging out, licking ice creams, taking pictures, flying "panda" kites, and enjoying the little cooling down one could feel after the sunset.

Being in this city, I could still feel the Olympic spirit almost everywhere, or rather be harshly reminded of what I've missed last summer. The 5-color ringed banners still linger in the streets and the flat screens in the subway cars continuously replay the emotional game scenes.

The number of visitors on this Olympic square definitely showed that the pride of the 2008 Olympic still lives on, and a tinge of nostalgic amber still glows.

Beijing, China.
Juillet 2009