Beijing National Aquatics Center (The Water Cube)

The Water Cube, officially called the Beijing National Aquatics Center, is one of the most impressive buildings in Beijing and one of the star attractions for tourists since the American swimmer Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals here at the Olympic Games. The Cube cost the Chinese treasury no less than 75 million euros to build and it has a capacity of over 17,000 spectators.

It is a building that is sure to be unlike any you've ever seen before: the rectangular structure, with membranes that allow the passage of natural light, is truly spectacular. It is located just a few meters away from the National Stadium. Last year, it was opened to the public, with access for 50 yuan (about 5.00 euros).

Now it has a water park inside, very nice for kids, and for other side, it integrated many fast food restaurants, like KFC and Subway (if you don't want to eat Chinese things around).

For me, the best time to visit the water cube is at the sunset or night (until 9:30pm approx., then all is dark) when its facade is full of colors (during the day don't look so attractive, because the facade seems to be dirty)

Interesting for ve likes architecture, but the external structure is quite dirty...