Beijing National Stadium Stadium

Address: National Stadium (Bird’s Nest), 1 National Stadium South Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China

Hours: Varies by event

Admission: Admission varies by event; guided tours sometimes available (paid)

Beijing National Stadium is a large multiuse stadium in the Olympic Green area of Beijing, completed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It is widely known by its nickname the “Bird’s Nest.”

The complex includes an inner spectator bowl that held about 91,000 people for the 2008 opening ceremony and a wide external plaza framed by the interlocking steel lattice. The steel shell creates prominent viewing lines and walkways around the stadium, and the site is part of the larger Olympic Park with pedestrian connections to the National Aquatics Center and surrounding green space. The stadium now hosts sporting events, concerts and occasional national ceremonies.

Design work was led by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron with Chinese artist Ai Weiwei as artistic consultant; construction ran from 2003 to 2008. It was commissioned as the primary stadium for the 2008 Games and has been adapted since for a range of public uses.

The stadium sits in Chaoyang District’s Olympic Green, northeast of central Beijing and adjacent to major parkland and other Olympic venues. It is accessible by Beijing Metro and roads serving the Olympic complex.

• Photography: Best photographed at night when the outer lattice is illuminated; good vantage points include the nearby Olympic Park and the Riverbank promenade to the south.
• Use: Opened for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics and remains a multipurpose venue used for sports, concerts and public events.

What to See#

• Main stadium bowl: Houses the main spectator bowl that held about 91,000 people for the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony; the bowl is the venue for athletics, concerts and occasional sporting events.
• Steel lattice exterior and public plaza: A latticed steel exterior formed from interlocking beams provides the stadium’s distinctive ‘bird’s nest’ appearance and encloses walkways and public plazas around the bowl.

Beijing National Stadium (the “Bird’s Nest”) sits in Olympic Park in north Beijing. Take Beijing Subway Line 8 to the Olympic Green/Olympic Sports Center area and then walk about 10-15 minutes to the stadium across the park.

The site is also reachable by numerous city buses and by taxi; from central Beijing it’s about a 30-40 minute subway ride depending on your start point, and by car you’ll use the Asian Games Village/Olympic Park roads to reach nearby parking or drop‑off points.

• Use the Olympic Green (Olympic Park) subway stop (Line 8) and follow pedestrian routes across the park to reach the stadium; arriving on foot through the south plaza keeps you out of the busiest tour-group approaches.
• Book any interior stadium tour in advance-public access inside the Bird's Nest is often limited for events and maintenance, so secure tickets through the official Olympic Park ticketing channels or a trusted tour operator.
• For photos and to avoid daytime tour crowds, visit either early morning or after sunset when the stadium's exterior lighting is on and the adjacent Water Cube provides a complementary nightscape.