Beijing national stadium

This bird-nest like structure is most recognizable for it's hosting of the prestigious Olympic event in 2008, the hosting country being China. Besides that, the Beijing national stadium has also made a significant impact on world architectural history due to it's unique and innovative structure.The Beijing national stadium is also known as 'The bird nest' for its uncanny resemblance to one.

See the resemblance?

INTERIOR

A paranorma of the interior of The bird nest

The stadium covers an area of about 258 thousand square meters (99.614 square miles), which can accommodate 80,000 fixed seats and 11,000 temporary seats. The stands can be changed in many ways, which can satisfy the needs of different numbers of spectators in different periods. The seats are placed so that the spectator's view is not obstructed at all times.The spectator stands surround the central of the stadium and is shielded by a thin bubble film , strategically placed on the top of the structure. The bubble film is waterproof, but is thin enough to allow light to penetrate, which explains the luscious green lawns in Beijing national stadium.

STRUCTURE

The design of this large stadium was accomplished together by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and Chinese architect Li Xinggang and the others. The structure of the building was inspired by Chinese ceramics. With the aim of a 'porous' yet 'collaborative and whole' structure, they exposed the steel supports and let them become it's most natural feature, with an exposed area in the center, which is directly above the players. The stadium is made of two completely different components - a red bowl that holds all the spectators and the outer steel structure. Originally intended to hide a retractable roof for the exposed center, it soon became acknowledged as the bird nest's most distinguished feature and hence, the retractable roof idea was dropped. Although the placing of the steel frames appear random ,the positions are nearly identical and symmetrical to each side.The highest point of the stadium is at 68.5 m from the ground and the lowest being 48 m.

Just my two-cents worth; I think the Chinese architects have outdone themselves with the Beijing national stadium. It is aesthetically pleasing even though the steel bars look at random, and serves its purpose well. It is a symbol of China's national pride and the effort they put in to be up to par as a country hosting the Olympics, so as to leave an impression on foreign countries and foreign players. It is most definitely an innovative idea and the likening of it to a bird's nest gives a very homely feel, for nests are where the bird families reside. That is one large steel nest that the world had its eye on during the 2008 Olympics and it was impressive.

-sinyee

Tiananmen

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, commonly known as the June Fourth Incident (六四事件) or more accurate language as '89 Democracy Movement (八九民运) in Chinese, were student-led popular demonstrations in Beijing which took place in the spring of 1989 and received broad support from city residents, exposing deep splits within China's political leadership. The protests were forcibly suppressed by hardline leaders who ordered the military to enforce martial law in the country's capital. The crackdown that initiated on June 3–4 became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre or the June 4 Massacre as troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians trying to block the military's advance towards Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, which student demonstrators had occupied for seven weeks. The scale of military mobilization and the resulting bloodshed were unprecedented in the history of Beijing, a city with a rich tradition of popular protests in the 20th century.

The Chinese government condemned the protests as a "counter-revolutionary riot", and has prohibited all forms of discussion or remembrance of the events since.Due to the lack of information from China, many aspects of the events remain unknown or unconfirmed. Estimates of the death toll range from a few hundred to the thousands.

This to me shows the people's difficulties and problems that they face. I learnt that we should maintain social order no matter what we do and this protest at tiananmen shows exactly what happens during a riot where many people are killed. 

~Carissa Lim

Great Wall of China 万里长城

Credits: Google

The Great Wall of China consists of numerous walls and fortifications. The wall is originally conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the third century. It was built to prevent incursions from barbarians nomads into the Empire. It is one of the most extensive construction projects ever completed. 

It represents the unification of China, because it was linked together as China was unified for the first time in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). It represents the great ability of the Chinese to work together for the good of the country.

-Mei Ling

兵马俑

Credits to: http://m.wangchao.net.cn/lvyou/pydetail_377492.html

About 兵马俑: 

The Terracotta Army or the "Terracotta Warriors and Horses" is a collection ofterracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

The figures, dating from approximately the late third century BC, were discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current (2007) estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits nearby Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum.Other terracotta non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xi'an in Shaanxi province by a group of farmers digging a water well approximately 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) east of the Qin Emperor's tomb mound at Mount Li(Lishan),a region riddled with underground springs and watercourses. For centuries, there had been occasional reports of pieces of terracotta figures and fragments of the Qin necropolis –roofing tiles, bricks, and chunks of masonry having been dug up in the area.This most recent discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, and they unearthed the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China.In addition to the warriors, an entire necropolis built for the emperor also has been found surrounding the first emperor's tomb mound. The earthen tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li and built in a pyramid shape with Qin Shi Huang’s necropolis complex constructed as a microcosm of his imperial palace or compound. It consists of several offices, halls, stables, and other structures placed around the tomb mound, which is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway entrances. Up to 5 metres (16 ft) of reddish, sandy soil had accumulated over the site in the two millennia following its construction, but archaeologists found evidence of earlier disturbances at the site. During the excavations near the Mount Li burial mound, archaeologists found several graves dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where diggers had apparently struck terracotta fragments. These were discarded as worthless and used along with soil to back fill the excavations.

PICTURE COLLAGE

After a collage of singapore's youth culture, we're going to do one of China's youth culture.

Here goes.

At the top right of the collage, is a queer looking logo that is similar to an eye giving out wifi. It is actually China's top 'blogging' site. The full name is sina weibo, cut to just weibo. Blogging is a new craze with youths and this site provides youths in china access to blogging, Chinese style.

Taobao.com is a site that allows netizens to shop online. 

Line and wechat are popular amongst Chinese , they runs just like whatsapp, with photo-sharing and chat room features. But they have larger and animated emojis. 

The cute penguin with a scarf in the center of the collage is Qq. 

PICTURE COLLAGE

Looks familiar?

It's because this is a collage of singapore's teenage youth culture.

Many Singaporean youths like us like to indulge ourselves in the world of games and social chat rooms when we're not studying or revising. These are the current trends that are in vogue. The STOMP of Straits Times is a platform for Singaporeans to share and pass on information through pictures about shocking things happening around the small world of singapore. Usually used to oust bad behavior exhibited by some ungracious people, it has also been used to praise and give commendation to good Samaritans. 

Flappy bird is a mobile game that has gone viral after it's release for its addictive gameplay. Although it is not the only popular game that Singaporean youths play, here, it symbolises games as a feature of singapore's youth culture.

Twitter and whatsapp are both sharing platforms. Whatsapp is a chat room and twitter is for netizens to post statuses. They are the leading sharing platforms in singapore with stomp and Instagram and Facebook.

9gag is a site where users can post humorous comics , memes, or pictures. In a way, it works like STOMP but has been on longer than STOMP and has a larger variety of comedy that stretches across a global platform. A deviant site, S-GAG aka singapore gag has been created for Singaporeans to post funny things they witness in singapore. Sgag is more popular with youths in singapore as more of the youths nowadays have access to internet.

U.S.S is a iconic feature of singapore. Once there, you'll not only find curious tourists but also curious Singaporean youths.