Beijing—Olympic Bird Nest, China(北京奥运会鸟巢)-儿歌荟萃-万维博客-万维读者网（电脑版）

网络日志正文

		Beijing—Olympic Bird Nest, China(北京奥运会鸟巢)	2020-07-21 06:46:02

2018-08-17

【Aiden in English】

You are going to find that this trip will contain lots of food and simply me eating my way around China. As I said before, food stands as a significant part of Chinese culture. You can't expect me not to absolutely freak out whenever it's mealtime. It's been a few years since I've had authentic Chinese cuisine. In addition, many of the meetings between two Chinese friends occur around a table filled with edible goods. When you're in the greatest country of cuisine in the world, you kind of enjoy the meals more than everything else.

Alright, the fun part is over. Today's flight also got canceled. What fun! But seriously, we booked a flight that ran directly into a typhoon. Luckily, Nanjing only got some severe rains, nothing ridiculous. However, that does come with the unfortunate extra two days in Beijing. But as I continue to eat my way through the city, my opinion on the delay slowly shifts in the other direction.

While I've been to many attractions around Beijing already, I’ll focus on history and culture, much like many other countries I've passed through. To throw in a small change-up here isn't bad, so Mom and I decided to visit some birds. The Bird's Nest, that is.

2008, Summer Olympics, the Bird's Nest featured some of the greatest athletes of all time. An impressive stadium even to date, the style modeled after a nest really still awes many visitors. Its shape is hard to say: it's more of a wavy oval than a circle. The odd shape comes from the 'twigs' of the Birds Nest, which rimmed around the top. This feature may be the highlight of the stadium because it gives the characteristic of the nest.

Today, the nest also features me, another great athlete... not really. While I may not have stepped onto the turf at this time, I was fortunate enough to explore the inner structure and its upper floors.

But why is it called a Bird’s Nest? Well, if you see it, the most logical explanation would say it looks like a bird's nest, and that's pretty much it. This is one of the rare Chinese attractions without an elaborate backstory tied to it. It's also one of the more recent attractions, built exactly one decade ago.

We climbed the floors and entered the spectator’s area, only speculating what a packed Bird's Nest full of sweaty sports fanatics could look like. By the time Mom and I made it to the top floor, we were profusely sweating, mostly because of a sudden blast of humidity from inside the stadium. I can't imagine feeling the air when the stadium was full. Looking up, the Bird's Nest twigs seemed even more prominent, making the rims of the roof curve and twist. On the inside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary from a normal sporting arena. There were a few straggler tourists checking out the area, but not many people were inside. The Bird's Nest is still used for sporting events today, which explained the movement of equipment. It just goes to show how well a job the Bird's Nest is and probably the final nest of anything surviving in Beijing.

Looking at the weather forecast, tomorrow is the last day of rain, and it's supposed to clear up. Our flight is almost certainly by then, which marks the last day of Beijing. Don't worry, we'll be back the day before going home, mom and I will revisit the best restaurants.

【红霞译文】

你会发现这次旅行将跟吃结下不解之缘，我随心所欲，走一路吃一路。之前我曾说过，美食在中国文化中举足轻重，因此每到饭点的时候，千万别怪我乐得手舞足蹈，我已有好多年没吃到过正宗道地的中式宴席，何况但凡两位同胞聚在一起，肯定少不了美味相伴好酒相佐，既然置身全球食尚大国，你肯定享受山珍海味带来的幸福感。

可惜好景不长，今天飞行又被取消，下雨天留客天留我不留！说真格的，我们预定的航班正好处于台风登陆地区，多亏南京只是下几场暴雨而已，实在不足为奇，无意之间竟让我们在北京多呆了两天，咱才下舌尖却又上心头，我对延迟的态度终于出现大反转。

虽然京城附近已参观过不少景点，但我还将把注意力投注于历史文化方面，跟去世界其它国家旅游差不多，这回我心血来潮，想和妈妈一起看鸟，于是就选定了“鸟巢”。

2008年夏季奥运会，鸟巢孕育出好些史无前例的运动员；时至今日，标新立异的体育场仍然震撼着每位游客，很难确切讲明它的形状：与其说是圆形，不如说是波浪起伏的椭圆形，奇特之处要算搭在鸟窝顶部的“树枝”，这也许是体育场亮点所在，正因如此方才体现鸟巢的特征。

今天，鸟巢又营造出我这样一位了不起的运动员（瞎起哄），尽管没法到绿茵赛场上小试身手，但能进体育场内并参观顶楼建筑结构我已倍感荣光。

究竟为何叫鸟巢呢？假若你亲眼见过，那么最合乎逻辑的解释便是它形如鸟巢，直截了当。纵观中国名胜古迹，极少有像鸟巢这样的景点没有天花乱坠的背景故事，它属于新兴建筑之一，恰好于十年前建成。

我们爬楼梯进入看台，禁不住揣摩起塞满了狂热体育迷的鸟巢会变成啥样。待到达顶楼的时候，我和妈妈早已大汗淋漓，主要因为体育场内蒸笼般湿气突然扑面而来，简直无法想象体育场爆满时怎么喘气。仰头观望，鸟巢树枝显得更加参差不齐，致使屋脊弯曲，其内没有什么超乎寻常的东西，若干闲逛的游客东瞧瞧西瞅瞅，呆在里面的人并不多。如今鸟巢仍用于体育赛事，难怪器械动来动去，说明继续发挥余热，而且极有可能成为北京幸存的最后一个筑窝。

查看天气预报，明天停雨，应该雨过天晴，我们的飞机总算可以起程，意味着今日是我们滞留北京的最后一天，别担心，我和妈妈在返美回家的前一天又将重归北京，届时再去最好的餐馆。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2018: Beijing—Then & Now for 30 Years, China(北京—今昔卅年)

2018: Beijing—A Bite of Peking, China(舌尖上的北京)

2018: Beijing—South Luogu Lane the Cultural Alley, China(北京南锣鼓巷文化街)

2018: Beijing—Raffles City, China(北京来福士商城)

2018: Beijing—Olympic Green, China(北京奥运公园)

2017: Waal River—Distributary Rhine, NLD(荷兰瓦尔河—莱茵河分流)

2017: Nijmegen the Oldest City, NLD(荷兰最古老的城市—奈梅亨)

2017: Zaltbommel @ the Waal, Netherlands(荷兰瓦尔河畔—博梅尔)

2017: Dordrecht the Sheep's Heads, NLD(荷兰多德雷赫特—羊头商城)

2017: Kinderdijk Windmills, Netherlands(荷兰孩童堤防)