Bird's Nest holds 1st post-Games show

By Cui Xiaohuo and Cui Jia (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-02 08:24

It was like another Olympics had come home to roost at the Bird's Nest.

Passion returned to the $500-million steel-twigged Beijing Olympic showpiece Friday night, as the stadium hosted the Jackie Chan and His Friends Concert in front of a 50,000-strong audience. It was the first major public event since the Games ended more than eight months ago.

"The Bird's Nest is a legend, so is Jackie Chan. You don't see this stardom combination often," said Xue Dong, a 40-year-old visitor from Panjin, Liaoning province, who was wearing the white cap of a tour group that arrived in Beijing on Friday morning

The architectural wonder experienced the stunning Olympic opening ceremony, record-breaking sprinter Usain Bolt and a jaw-breaking withdrawal of hurdler Liu Xiang. But hours before its first major post-Olympic event, it still saw Chinese families, couples and foreigners, among thousands of other tourists, refreshing their memories of the Olympics.

Vendors were selling replicated "jade in gold" Olympic medals and Olympic venue crests at 10 yuan ($1.5) per piece in front of the giant structure.

Stadium a new Great Wall

"The Bird's Nest has become a new Great Wall, a new Forbidden City for Beijing and China," said Zhang Hengli, the brains behind a Beijing-based company which runs the 80,000-seat structure - which is big enough to become a literal "white elephant" if not properly maintained.

Its size has always been the beauty and shortcoming of the stadium.

The stadium consistently attracts 20,000 to 30,000 visitors per day, and a lot more on public holidays. But it also costs 70 million yuan yearly to maintain, not to mention the 90 million yuan in annual interest payments.

"To nest profits for it, we must commercialize," Zhang told China Daily, adding that he was not worried about the stadium's future with further sponsorship still underway.

Media have speculated that Olympic sponsors Coca-Cola and Adidas are both interested in the bid.

The stadium is set to host a joint concert next month by Placido Domingo and two of China's most popular artists.

Also, promoters of a stadium-sized Turandot by Olympic ceremony director Zhang Yimou and Italian Cup organizers who want to play their final in the Bird's Nest, are both fighting for a spot on the one-year anniversary of the Beijing Olympics, which falls on Aug 8.

All of the 37 Olympic venues have opened to the public, some for commercial purpose. Next to the Bird's Nest, the National Indoor Stadium earlier staged music diva Sarah Brightman and piano sensation Lang Lang.

The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in the suburbs of Beijing opened to the public for 20 yuan per head. Venue director Gao Jiadong said the park will first attract the public before becoming a commercial water theme park.

Visitors seemed confident about the fate of the venues.

"The Eiffel Tower was considered a useless steel tower when it came out one century ago, but now it is world famous," said Koenig Eugene, a visitor from Strasbourg, France, before entering the Bird's Nest on Friday with his relatives in Beijing.

"It's the same case. This piece here will become another wonder for the next 200 years," said tourist Woehl Hubert.