Stumbling Upon New Discoveries in Beijing

See the Birds Nest in person...check!

It is nearly 2 months into my study abroad in China, and I still had not visited the Olympic Stadium here in Beijing.  In 2008 China hosted the Olympics, and for the event built a sprawling complex full of stadiums, event centers, shopping outlets, and parks. Last Saturday a friend and I decided to go check it out, take pictures, and cross another Beijing tourist site off our checklist. We ventured out into the typical Beijing weather, grey skies and chill breeze, to check it out, and were pretty much satisfied by what we saw. The Birds Nest was impressive in its unique appearance, the Water Cube was pretty dull looking without brightly colored lights, and the various art pieces looked drab in the muted daylight. 

Not my pic, but that's how The Water Cube looks at night.

As with most places that attract a crowd in Beijing, merchants were set up all along the main walkways selling novelties, toys, and food items. As we walked around the complex, my friend and I chatted about the controversy of building the Olympic venues; how huge residential areas had been demolished, people forcibly removed from their homes. As we wondered around we noticed that many of the event centers were closed. Perhaps they get used for an odd conference or something, but the abandoned buildings on the perimeter of the park heralded memories of the aftermath of the Athens Olympic Games. The only thing still in use outside one of event centers was a dingy store selling faded Olympic mascots and other novelties. 

It's supposed to be a tree...or a cloud? I don't know.

Thankfully, to ease our boredom, a gaggle of teenage girl tourists from Guangzhou followed us from the subway to stare at us. Apparently my friend had left a lasting impression on them during the subway ride there. It was funny seeing him flustered and awkward as the girls fawned over him, begging for us to take their picture. Silly teenagers.
 

Sci-fi looking orb that is a part of the Experimental Cinema wing of the museum. More importantly, can I call E.T.?

It's a big green human people-makin' double helix!

I'm speechless. I probably gawked at this for 10 minutes.

Ultimately what ended up being the most valuable and exciting part of our visit was finding the China Science and Technology Museum! A curious orb on the park map caught my attention at first, so Dillon and I headed their intending to take a few pictures before leaving. After realizing what the place was we figured a trip inside could be worthwhile; and worthwhile it was! The first thing we saw when going in was a undulating wave of while spheres hung from the ceiling, followed by a massive green twisting double helix of men and women reaching out representing the bonds of a DNA strand. This was just the entrance, and what remained inside was just as cool. 

What do you do when you walk into a cell? Take a cellphie!

We ended up going into the main exhibit, which consisted of four levels, each with different themes. It starts with a massive dinosaur fossil of what I think was an Apatosaurus. We then moved from the Miracle of Life with cells, biology, genetics, and other natural science pieces to sections about sound and motion. I actually really liked this part because of an interesting tic-tac-toe game we found. Dillon played a competitive match against the AI, and nearly won. Computer brains can be pretty tricky sometimes.

Among all the exhibits ranging from Sustainable Energy, Technology and Life, Liquids, etc, there exhibit for Smart Appliances was my favorite. The green lighted walls, transparent floors, and see through machines evoked memories of elementary school field trips to the local Discovery Center. Each exhibit was interactive. You could change the piping for a ventilation system, build an earthquake resistant structure, meddle with electrical barriers, etc. I really liked how each exhibit introduced you to scientific idea in a tangible way. I played with a projection that rippled like water when you walked in it and walked inside of a cell, while my friend rode a fan propelled bicycle and pretended to be weightless in a model space module. Being there made science feel so cool! If I were a kid in Beijing I could imagine spending countless hours exploring every part of this sprawling nerdy sanctuary!

"I'm in space y'all!" -Dillon

Finding that museum reaffirmed my belief that the best places in Beijing are often not the most obvious. Often times they are hidden away, separated from the main attraction in any given area. I’m not very good at venturing out into the city by myself because I tend to get lost; however, this time I found a real gem. The whole experience of going to the Olympic stadium only to wind up in a science and tech museum made me think about what it would be like to grow up in Beijing. Would I know all the great places to visit? Would I be able to afford them? Things like the low ticket price and ease of entry made this great education space accessible, but as an American in China, my experience is surely different from that of a local Beijinger. I hope that as many kids as possible have the opportunity to visit places like this because it not only makes science and technology readily accessible, but also sparks your imagination. Science is so freaking exciting, and being in such a fun, dazzling, open, creative space really made my imagination soar; dreaming about the future. 

Going on excursions with CET is fun, but discovering the China Science and Technology Museum by myself made the experience all the more rewarding. My advice for current or future CET students is to go out of your way to experience new things. You’ll probably get lost a few times and might get upset with something new, but the places you will stumble upon will certainly surprise you. Good luck!

Its the Olympic mascots, and the children couldn't get enough of them.

IBM building in the shape of a dragon! Clever Chinese people.

"The Cube" more like "The Snore"

Fall leaves looked pretty

Those are clay tubes with flowers inside.

Me

 I honestly don't know what this is. But it lights up!

Selfie. I like the colors. They are actually plastic sheets with colored dots.

The Olympic torch!

Some random statue. This is a bad angle.

This was before I know what that building was. The Museum!

China Science and Technology Museum

Cool orb

Dinosaur bones! The lady said they were real...I'm not so sure...

This room was slanted so it felt like you were perpetually falling over

Chromosome bonding in action!

Enter...dun dun dun...THE CELL!

Pretty cool idea IMO.

Tic Tac Toe game we played.

This is the Smart Appliances section.

Giant Mushrooms?

I built a house.

Attention Air traffic control. This is Red 2 requesting permission to land.

The Predator made by a 3D printer

Said 3D printer

They had techie fun house mirrors!

This made much more sense playing with it in person.

There were art pieces like this everywhere!

Hey MOM! I'm on the Moon!

These were from the Chinese history section. I think its some astronomical device.

Quintessential Chinese ship

A Scale model of some awesome old Chinese building.

A Loom. China is big on showing off it's ancient inventions.

Water powered machines.

Those look awfully a lot like space ships. Is this Men in Black?

I wish America did more of this. Mixing art and common spaces seamlessly.

That's a lot of bells

Olympic Center really is well designed. The whole place must have been packed during the actual Olympics! Apparently its more lively at night when everything is lit up.