Attraction flies Bird's Nest

A large-scale outdoor show especially designed for the 2008 Olympic Games Stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest, will move to the Water Cube in May.

The show will be adapted to be performed indoors at the National Aquatics Center in a bid to fully employ the former Olympic venue.

The show, Attraction, features impressive visual effects with large screens and excellent use of lights and thrilling acrobatics including flying men fighting in midair. The performance tells a love story between a man and a fairy maiden, whose union is challenged by an evil force.

Since the show's debut at the Bird's Nest three years ago, more than half a million people have seen it.

This year, for the first time, the show will stage 40 performances at the Water Cube from May to August. The ticket price remains the same, ranging from 100 yuan ($16) to 1,280 yuan.

The move to the Water Cube will see more water elements incorporated into the performance, says Wu Xiaonan, vice-president of Beijing State-owned Assets Management Company that operates the annual show.

The show's production team will continue to work with Pixomondo, an Oscar-winning company that produced visual effects for the US TV series Games of Thrones and 3-D film Hugo.

Famous director Lu Chuan wrote the script for Attraction, and many artists who were part of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics have worked on the show.

Having been designed especially for the Bird's Nest, moving the show is seen as a move to raise its profile and possibility to move it elsewhere in the future.

For locals and tourists, the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube are top attractions. Both venues were hailed as landmark architectures by the media and the public when they opened in 2008. But the attractions' owner, Beijing State-owned Assets Management Company, hopes to use them as more than simply tourist spots or sports venues. Both venues will be key stadiums for Beijing's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

"Our show will be a new model in exploring the use of Olympic venues," Wu says.

dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn