Beijing Olympic Park: Bird's Nest, Water Cube and Forest Trails

Extending the Beijing Central Axis north beyond the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads in Chaoyang District, the Beijing Olympic Park (Olympic Green) is the monumental legacy of the 2008 Summer Games and the 2022 Winter Games, which made Beijing the first city in history to host both Summer and Winter Olympics. Reached directly on Subway Line 8 at Olympic Sports Center, Olympic Green or Forest Park South Gate stations, the precinct divides into two distinct halves: the wide architectural plaza of the stadiums in the south, and the green lungs of the 680-hectare Olympic Forest Park in the north.

If you only have an hour or two, time your visit for late afternoon into dusk. Because the open concrete boulevard between the stadiums stretches for more than two kilometres with minimal shade, walking the axis around sunset lets you see the structural engineering in daylight before the stadium facades light up against the evening sky:

• The Bird's Nest (National Stadium, Guojia Tiyuchang): designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron in collaboration with structural engineers Arup and artistic consultant Ai Weiwei, its exterior weave of forty-two thousand tonnes of twisted steel beams forms an self-supporting cradle around the red concrete seating bowl. Daytime tickets let you enter the arena tiers or walk the elevated rooftop steel corridor for views over the axis.
• The Water Cube / Ice Cube (National Aquatics Center): standing directly opposite the Bird's Nest across the axial mirror pool, respecting the traditional Chinese cosmology of a round heaven (stadium) and square earth (aquatics hall), its translucent ETFE cushion facade is modelled on the natural geometry of soap bubbles, glowing electric blue and violet after dark. Inside, the venue switches seasonally between swimming pools, a public waterpark and curling ice sheets.
• Beijing Olympic Tower and Chinese Archaeological Museum: rising 246.8 metres in five linked circular rings at the head of the plaza, the Olympic Tower commands a panoramic night view straight down the Central Axis, while nearby stands the striking Chinese Archaeological Museum (advance passport booking required) displaying turquoise dragons from Erlitou and Shang oracle bones.
• Olympic Forest Park (Aosen): exit Forest Park South Gate Station on Line 8 to step onto rubberised 5 km and 10 km running loops circling the artificial Yangshan Hill and wetlands, planted as the green northern ecological anchor of the capital.