Our bus threads through Beijing and seems to have to make a number of U-turns to get us into the parking area for the Olympic Park. OK... this is another "MUST SEE!" that I am excited about: after watching the 2008 Olympics we wanted to see the venue - the real thing. The parking lot is crowded, so our bus driver has to show some serious skill to thread thru the other buses and get parked. Then we all walk about a block to be screened just as if we were getting onto a plane: metal detector and looking into every bag - so my backpack gets a peek.
We've been seeing the "Birdcage" for awhile already, of course, since it is visible from quite a distance, but we walk another block or two and find ourselves - finally - in "The photo spot".
Coooool! Of course, gobs of tourists are swarming around it and everyone is taking the same photo we are. I start to convince myself that there really *is* a symmetry to the structure - that it is reflected around the centerpoint, but then I look more closely and - no... it seems "random". A really-cool concept for such a large structure - like somebody just randomly drew lines then told somebody: Now. Really, actually BUILD this - the size of a football stadium - and slip in enough structural support so that it will actually stand up.We're told that we *can* go inside, but it's an extra charge to do so - and we're told that there really isn't anything to see. So we just stroll on over, looking at the "dragon building" on the Water Cube side
The building was intentionally built to look like a stylized dragon head (the part you see) - followed by 4 other buildings which make up the body. Really pretty clever. Sorry we didn't get a photo of the whole thing. Anyway, we get to the open plaza between the Birdcage and the Water Cube. 
Now. Am I the only person in the world who thought that the 2 were way across town from each other? They're maybe 100 yards apart. Right there together. The Water Cube, which always looked so cool on TV at night - looks pretty boring during the day - since it isn't translucent. It still looks kind of cool - but flat since you can't see thru the walls when it's light out. 
We just meander down the plaza - watching the pollen "snowing" down - and watching the other tourists (the Chinese) enjoy the same show we're enjoying. There's an interesting sculpture which attracts some young women - who pose "in" the sculpture.
Sorry we missed the "added attractions" in the sculpture photo - which should give you a big clue about which of us was taking the photos. But we, again, find that we're "attractions" by ourselves and I get to ham it up and pose with 2 or 3 groups of Chinese tourists who want to have a Westerner in our photo (and... you're seeing a trend here... the photos are on *their* cameras, not ours). The interaction with them and getting to be the center of attention - even though we have NO words in common - is my kind of thing. I really eat it up.It feels special - and fun - and "World Attraction", but it is also low-key - just enjoying ambling along together, hand-in-hand, here at the site of the Olympics just 2 years ago.
So we stroll back toward the bus - feeling a bit warm in the overcast day and I'm kind of surprised at how it somehow feels like an anti-climax: the things that I *most* was excited to see - turn out to be interesting - but not as interesting as the little un-scheduled things which just happen along the way. Perhaps I need to make a serious mental note of *that* revelation.Next up: The Summer Palace
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