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Nov 21, 2008 2:59 pm US/Central
Bird's Nest Draws Crowds Long After Olympics
BEIJING (AP) ―
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Fireworks go off during the Closing Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Aug. 24, 2008, in Beijing.
Al Bello/Getty Images
The spectacular fireworks were long over and the Olympic athletes had all gone home. But for Cai Shanhai and his wife, He Jingfeng, it was still a moment to savor as they stared up at the soaring steel arches of the Bird's Nest national stadium this week.
"Our whole life, there's been nothing like the Olympics. On TV, you can only see so much of the Bird's Nest, but in person you can see every bit of it. It's so grand, so grand," said He, 67, clad in a red embroidered jacket for the occasion.
The couple -- farmers from a village in Inner Mongolia -- are hardly alone in their enthusiasm. Since the Olympic Games ended in August, some 35,000 to 40,000 visitors a day have streamed through the 91,000-seat stadium, according to ticketing officials. The smaller, whimsical Water Cube nearby draws its own share of visitors -- 20,000 to 26,000 daily.
The enormous interest in the Olympic venues signals that the collective national pride and excitement built up over the games remains in force -- a big payoff domestically on the government's $40 billion gamble at showcasing a more open and modern China.
The display of dazzling technology and modern infrastructure also largely succeeded in boosting China's image internationally, scholars say.
"It is the first time that 4.5 billion people in the world saw on TV what China really looked like," said Jin Yuanpu, professor and director of the Humanity Olympic Study Center of Renmin University. "Because the Olympics offered an opportunity to the world to get to know China, there were more positive reports during the games. Seeing is believing. China is changing."
The government fulfilled its promise to clean up the air pollution and reduce its snarled traffic for the Olympics. But for those who had hoped the games would quicken progress on the contentious issues of human rights and media freedom, lasting changes have been less clear. Beijing did announce that relaxed restrictions on reporting by foreign journalists, already in place for the Olympics, would become permanent.
In a tumultuous year marked by crippling snowstorms in southern China, an uprising in Tibet, and a devastating earthquake in Sichuan, the government's success in managing the Olympics had a powerful effect on public confidence.
"It was a victory for the government's attempt to improve China's image," said Ashley Esarey, a scholar at Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. "The Chinese feel they are fully on the radar of the international community. The Olympics was proof of that to them."
At the same time, China will have to face the challenge of managing public expectations in the wake of its success, he said.
"With the confirmation of its new status, there comes an expectation that the Chinese government should behave like other advanced countries. New pressures will come from the Chinese people to be more accountable and responsible," he said.
For the time being, the lingering feel-good aura of the Olympics can be seen in the excited crowds flocking to the modern-day architectural marvels that rival some of Beijing's more historic tourist sights. By one measure -- attendance -- the Olympic venues have already surpassed them.
During the weeklong national holiday in October known as Golden Week, the Olympic Green -- home to both the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest -- had 2.42 million visitors. By comparison, the Forbidden City only got 625,000 people during the same period, according to state media.
The Water Cube is due to become a public pool, and there are tentative plans for the Beijing Guoan football club to make the Bird's Nest stadium its home field.
"The image of China has definitely gotten bigger. After watching the Olympics and now seeing the Bird's Nest, you realize how much China has changed," said Gao Yongzhang, 48, a farmer from northwestern Gansu province who was posing for pictures with his family in front of the stadium. "Anywhere Chinese go, they can be proud."
For last couple months, dozens of tour buses have filled up rows in the stadium parking lot. Farmers from northern Qinghai line up next to uniformed students from nearby Tianjin to pay for the privilege of strolling through Olympic venues many had only seen on the small screen.
"The kids are all really into the Olympics. They love the Bird's Nest already. Now they get to see it," said Liu Wan, 25, a teacher chaperoning a group of 30 students in blue and white track suits from the city of Tianjin. "We want to develop this feeling in children to love the country in their hearts."
For the relatively pricey cost of $7.30 a ticket, visitors are permitted into the open-air stadium where Olympic victories by Chinese athletes are shown on an endless loop on giant TV screens.
For those who want more permanent memories, the stadium gift shop -- housed where the press boxes once were -- offers a foot-long model of the Olympic torch, complete with wooden case, for a cool $423.
Among the more popular items is a $73 commemorative plaque with a miniature gold-plated Bird's Nest. During Golden Week, about 1,300 plaques a day were snatched up by eager visitors, sales clerks said.
With little money to spare, one visitor, a burly migrant worker surnamed Han from neighboring Hebei province, simply settled for the view. He had come straight from the train station to get his first glimpse of the Bird's Nest, with his blue comforter rolled up under one arm and a navy duffel bag in the other hand.
"Everybody else in the world has seen it already, so Chinese people should definitely see it too," he said.
The iconic stadium was the high point in the trip of a lifetime for the Cais, the elderly couple from Inner Mongolia. Their seven children had pitched in to pay for the 10-day trip to Beijing -- their first ever to the capital.
Posing for pictures with their eldest daughter, they were giddy and beaming. "I have seen many things in my life already, but never did I expect to see China host the Olympics," He said.
Her 75-year-old husband, dapper in a gray Mao suit, seemed even more moved by the grandeur: "I can tell people I can die happily because I have seen the Bird's Nest."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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