No official inauguration or fancy pageantry, the most eye-catching Olympic venue Bird's Nest debuts with stirring moods and ubiquitous volunteers.

People are avid to have the first glimpes on the 91,000-seat architectural jewel of the Beijing Olympics. The 3.5-billion-yuan (500-million-US dollar) Bird's Nest, which is nicknamed from the ultra creative design of interlocking cement and steel frames, is more like a tourist attraction than a sports venue on Friday.

Visitors, mostly students, retired couples and tourists who are free on an ordinary weekday, paid at least 50 yuan (7.25 dollars) each to the pre-Olympics tour. The 80 yuan ticket will ensure them a package tour to both the Bird's Nest and adjacent Water Cube, or the National Aquatics Center.

The IAAF Race Walking Challenge followed by a marathon competition unveiled the use of the National Stadium, the official name of the Bird's Nest. Test events in the venue, which is scheduled to host the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, track and field competition and some soccer games, will see another IAAF contest in May.

Tightest security checks were implemented. Bottled water and lighters, in addition to hazardous materials were officially banned from bringing into the stadium. The prolonged security procedure triggered a little impatience among the people waiting for a couple of hours in the warm air in late Spring.

Young volunteers, mainly Beijing college students and some foreigners, enthusiastically tried to help visitors but not always helpful because most of them were for the first time in the venue and just familiarized themselves with the Olympic Park's layout plan.

Keum-Ah Jung, a 21-year-old Beijing University communications junior from the Republic of Korea, said she was ecstatic to be among the volunteers. "I applied for a volunteer slot as early as in 2006 and I am so proud of working for the Olympics."

Jung, who was born one year before Seoul hosted the 1988 Olympics, cherishes the chance to witness the Olympics so closely. "I cannot understand why some people would try to disturb the global festive gathering," said the Korean girl, commenting on recent disruptions on some stops of the Olympic torch relay.

The arena is gearing up final preparations for the historic gathering. Makeshift fences are still circling around the Olympic Park in north of the city. Lines of small nest-like road lamps are not functional. The new and faddishly-designed rest rooms have not yet supplied with hand soap or paper towel. Anyhow, spectators could effortlessly find vending machines to grab non-alcoholic drinks and snacks.

The stand is equipped with red and grey plastic seats, on the back of which are inscribed the logo and name of Sinopec, a leading national oil company which is also a key sponsor for the Beijing Olympics. The red-and-grey color design echoes the Bird's Nest's theme color, with the red representing Chinese tradition and the grey the Great Wall.

The Bird's Nest employs sophisticated architectual designs and arts produced by Switzerland-based Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. It is said that the distance from any location inside the venue to the center of the sports field is within 140 meters and all the spectators will be dispersed within roughly eight minutes.

Jared Tallent from Australia, the arena's first gold medalist who won the men's 20km of the IAAF Race Walking Challenge, said the Bird's Nest is " fantastic" and the track is "good enough." All the medalists said they were excited to compete in the Olympic venue.

Spectators were not as less excited than athletes. A young migrant working couple with their two-year-old son were shocked at being in the grandiose stadium. The husband Yang Zhehui said, "It must be a real enjoyment to run in such a wonderful place."

(Xinhua News Agency April 19, 2008)