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Just five months after the Beijing Olympics, the Bird Nest, is known as the National Stadium, is a museum for future cavernosum.

The stadium reaped praise for its bold design, a marvel of engineering that borders on sculpture. Now attracts 10,000 tourists a day _in chinos_ mostly paid 70 yuan (about $ 7) to walk on the floor of the stadium and climb through the corridors that go through the expensive seats up to a souvenir shop that evoke pride or opening ceremony three world records set by Jamaican Usain Bolt.


Symbol of growing Chinese power, wake up some doubts that ever comes to recover $ 450 million that the government spent to build it, particularly at a time when the economy declines.

Has not yet attracted top level performances, has no permanent residents and only one event has been announced for this year: the opera "Turandot" by Puccini, directed by Zhang Yimou, will be offered on August 8, the anniversary of the ceremony Inaugural.


The situation worries the company that manages the stadium.

The Consortium Operations CITIC Stadium, part of an investment company owned by the government, said that the stadium could generate annual revenues of 30 million dollars, while acknowledging that it is an optimistic prognosis.


You may worry that the Chinese communist government, but certainly not to the visitors.

"I do not have clear plans for the stadium, but I guess that will host many cultural and sporting events," said Gao Yunfei, wrapped in a cold and windy winter afternoon, after visiting him.


The painting is already hulled in some places inside the stadium and soot obscures the background, details are likely to escape the tourists who come to visit the remarkable structure.

Despite the Christmas decorations that have been installed for a month, the stadium is basically a sad place, particularly in the harshest winter.


"No matter what was spent, the stadium is necessary as a symbol of the country," said Li Bo, a young visitor from the city of Chengdu. "I am sure the government will have ways to deal with any problem."

Most of the temporary headquarters of the 2008 Olympic Games will be demolished. Some of the permanent found new uses, including the headquarters of the swimming and tennis.


The Water Cube, where Michael Phelps won a record eight gold medals, will become a water park and swimming center. The tennis stadium will be open to the Chinese scenario, a lucrative professional tennis tournament men and women.

But the Bird Nest is a special case.


His rent was too expensive to attract the main football club in the city, Guo'an, who gave up playing in the stadium with a capacity for 91,000 spectators. There are plans to reduce its capacity to 80,000. The Chinese Journal of government, recently described him as "a trap for tourists and the elderly have complained that there are no half-price ticket.

Until now, the Puccini opera in August is the only event confirmed by CITIC. The Italian press said the Italian Supercup soccer is played at the Chinese, but has not confirmed CITIC.


The company manager said that it would not accept offers for the right to rename the stadium _potencialmente a lucrative source of ingresos_ because of its symbolic nature. Many Chinese are opposed to the stadium has a name because they consider it a national symbol like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty.

"Many companies have expressed interest in the right to a name," added the company. "But we do not accept offers by that law, arguing that the Chinese public would be opposed. But it is possible to seek the sponsorship of individual parties, performances or areas within the stadium. These sponsorships not exclude foreign companies."