Bird Nest Stadium From Beijing

The Beijing National Stadium (北京国家体育场) or the "Bird's Nest" (�巢) for its architecture is a stadium finished for the Olympic Green in Beijing, China that was completed on March 2008. The stadium will host the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, and some events for the later Paralympics in September 2008. It is located east of the Beijing National Aquatics Centre (China Water Cube). This signature stadium is placed in the Olympic Green and occupies 21.4 hectares. It stretches 333 meters from north to south and 298 meters from east to west, covering an area of 258,000 square meters. The National Stadium is 68 meters high and holds 91,000 seats. The construction of the National Stadium began in December of 2003, and the cost was up to 3.5 billion yuan (423 million USD). The stadium also topped architecture category of the 100 most influential designs in Times magazine earlier this year.

__._,_.___