fbpx

Beijing 2008: What Happened After the Games Were Over?

Who doesn’t remember that f’n awesome opening ceremony from Beijing in 2008?

Photo Credit: EPA

Fireworks both real and fake.

Photo Credit: Artists In Motion

A giant, rolling and eventually floating LED screen…

And the drums….

We’ll never forget the drums…

Or that water cube.

Photo Credit: Charlie Fong

But, what happened after the games ended?

Well, when it comes to the water cube, a lot of things have happened.

They held a lot of events there right after the games, but it went dormant for a while before they renovated it into a water park that opened in 2010.

Photo Credit: Lara Farrar /CNN

This photo from 2012 seems to imply that it might not have stayed quite so pristine.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/David Gray

Though they do intend to use the cube for curling events when Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics in 2022.

Photo Credit: CCTV5

The old beach volleyball stadium hasn’t fared as well as the water cube.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/David Gray

And, the white water course remains drained, waiting for nature to take it back.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/David Gray

I don’t know how they could re-purpose either of those for the winter games.

This used to be the entrance to the baseball field.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/David Gray

Now it’s just a field with various stuff from the games strewn about.

Photo Credit: REUTERS/David Gray