China Beijing National Aquatics Center (Water Cube)

The Water Cube (National Aquatics Center) is located on the north side of Beijing city. The building is very unique, with an exterior wall made up of more than 3,000 irregular air pillow bubbles, which look like water molecules in the blue sea from a distance.At night, it is lit up with colorful lights, making it a great place to take nighttime photos.

Visit

Entering the inside of the Water Cube, sunlight shines in, and you realize that the bubbles that make up the exterior wall are not just one layer, but several. It is as if you have entered the interior of a stack of bubbles, the fairy tale world of the Little Mermaid.Many people want to poke the bubbles when they see them. The exterior of the Water Cube is made up of so many air pillow bubbles, but there is only one place where visitors can satisfy their curiosity about whether the bubbles are hard or soft. That is the 170-square-meter “Bubble Bar” located in the southeast corner of the second floor. No other place can touch this special membrane structure that makes up the bubbles.Please touch them gently in the Bubble Bar and take care of the Water Cube.

Swimming

If you want to get up close and personal with the cool water, both the swimming pool on the first floor and the Aqua Fun Park in the Water Cube will satisfy you.

Swim in the pool used by Olympic athletes and experience what it’s like to be a sports star.You cannot just go to the deep end of the pool. The staff on the edge of the pool are always walking back and forth to keep an eye on things, and you must have a deep water certificate to enter. When you enter the Water Cube, you can ask the staff to process your deep water certificate on the spot. After swimming 200 meters and treading water for 30 seconds, you can pay an additional 20 yuan for the deep water certificate. Remember to bring a 1-inch photo.The lockers in the swimming pool are free of charge.

Water Park

The Water Cube Water Park has exciting indoor wateramusement park.The Water Cube Water Park locker requires a separate rental fee and key card deposit. You do not need to pay in cash with your key card when making purchases in the park. If necessary, you can recharge your card at the service desk in advance, and the remaining balance will be refunded when you return the key card.

Both the swimming pool and the Water Cube Water Park are air-conditioned and have a constant temperature all year round, so you can come and play in the winter too.It should be noted that there is no time limit for visiting the Water Cube and the Water Cube Water Park, but there is a time limit for swimming. Each session is 2 hours, including showering and changing clothes (an additional 30 minutes for obtaining a deep water certificate). Overtime charges apply: 20 yuan for up to 30 minutes overtime, 30 yuan for 30 to 60 minutes overtime, and 40 yuan for more than 60 minutes overtime.

Photograph the night scene

At night, the Water Cube will be lit up with blue lights, which change colors from time to time, contrasting with the red lights of the Bird’s Nest (National Stadium) next to it. It looks like “ice and fireduality of heaven and earth”. You can come to take pictures of the night scene. The Water Cube turns off the lights from about 21:30 to 10:00 pm, so if you are only going to see the night scene and not go inside for a tour, don’t come too late.

In addition to hosting aquatic events and providing visitors with tours and swimming opportunities, the Water Cube has also been used as a location for variety shows, such as the 2013 television sensation “Star Diving Cube”.

The Water Cube sells Olympic-related and Water Cube-related souvenirs, and there are long strings of kites (many small kites connected in a row) for sale in the empty Mediterranean Sea between the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest, which is very unique and you can fly kites and have fun.The water and food in the scenic area are relatively expensive.