Beijing’s Modern Marvels

The lead up to the Olympic Games brought a flurry of construction in Beijing.  Buildings sprung up left and right as if everyone’s in a mood to construct.  Here’s a list of the modern marvels which you must see when you’re in town for a visit:

1.  National Stadium aka Bird’s Nest – This 91,000 seating capacity stadium is located north of the 4th ring road at the southern part of the Olympic Green.  It’s the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of both the Olympics and Paralympic Games.  It is also where the athletic events are being held.  Rumors said that it will be the home of Beijing Guo’an after the Games.

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Wheelchair Rugby

Rugby as a sport is played out in a field with several players hugging a ball and trying to bring it to the their opponent’s goal.  So when Marco mentioned that he bought tickets for wheelchair rugby for the three of us, I was skeptical as to how they’ll play the game.

The difference? The players are on wheelchairs, played indoors, and only 4 players to a team.  It’s a cross between basketball, handball and hockey wherein you have to dribble the ball once every 10 seconds while it is in your possession and you have to bring the ball to the goalpost on your opponent’s side.  They have penalties which is similar to hockey like one minute suspension and has a special area where the penalized player will have to stew.