Olympic Stadium and Water Cube

Beijing Day 3
Included a visit at the summer palace where the Dragon Lady stayed during the summer (obviously) and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The day also included a tea taste at a local tea house where we learned the proper way to prepare and consume tea. There is a special way to prepare and consume when you are having tea in a social setting. The rules are meant to portray politeness and manners. The last thing we did that day included visiting the Olympic stadium of 2008 and the Olympic swim pool known as the water cube. I enjoyed the Olympic stadium and pool as I had saw pictures of it before but it was truly amazing to see the great architectural design in person. The stadium looks awesome from the outside as large metal beams twist and turn to form the shape of a bird's nest. However, I found the inside of the stadium to be equally incredible as I walked in and saw it open up to a massive field and stadium. The grass was currently being replaced so we could not go onto the field but we could ride a segue around the track if we wished. The segue rides were spendy considering you were only permitted to ride for 3 minutes so I chose not to partake nor did any of my fellow peers. After we visited the stadium and took a group picture with our UMD sign we went to check out the water cube. On the way I put my bargaining skills to use with the purchase of some novelty items but I got the impression that what I thought was a good deal really was not. Professor Li's father tried to inform me after the purchase and encouraged the vendor to give me some change but it was not successful. The vendor was reluctant to give me some change as the deal had already been made and I was restricted by a language barrier so I accepted the original price. The water cube was just as interesting as the stadium and had a pretty intense water park inside that I think we all would have loved to jump into as it was pretty muggy and the temperature was 30 degrees Celsius.