In this combination photo, China's iconic national stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, is seen during the Olympic Games' opening ceremony (top) on August 8, 2008 and covered in artificial snow yesterday. The stadium, which has been rarely used since it held the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has been turned into a winter playground at a cost of around 50 million yuan (US$7 million) in an effort to attract more tourists during the quieter Christmas and Chinese New Year season. A total of 25,000 tons of reclaimed water was used to make snow for the Bird's Nest, and organisers said that the artificial snow will not be harmful to people or the environment.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.