Beijing National Stadium

History

The National Stadium (国家体育场, Guójiā Tǐyùchǎng), a.k.a. the Bird's Nest (鸟巢), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary seating), broke ground in December 2003, officially started construction in March 2004, and was completed in June 2008. The National Stadium is owned and operated by a partnership company between Beijing Municipal State-owned Assets Management Co Ltd (58%) and CITIC Group (42%).