China's "Bird's Nest" Now Complete and Ready for Summer Games

With the opening ceremonies to this summer's Olympics just about 40 days away, Chinese officials have declared their National Stadium complete and fully operational. The impressive structure which holds 91,000 fans will play host to both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as track and field events.

The National Stadium is nicknamed the "Bird's Nest" for its resemblance to the twigs a bird piles together to form their nests. Ground was broken on the structure in December of 2003. There was a competition to select the design of the structure and the design you see today was done by Swiss firm Herzog and de Meuron and Chinese architect Li Xinggang.

China has just recently allowed the media inside the venue and BBC News has a great video giving fans an idea of what to expect.

I'll have the amazing opportunity to check out the Bird's Nest in person during a track and field event in August when I'll be traveling to China for the games. So keep your eyes peeled for reports from the scene.

Another picture of the stadium's impressive lighting at night below.