Capital Indoor Stadium Capital Indoor Stadium The Capital Indoor Stadium () is an indoor arena in 56 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing, China that was built in 1968. It hosted matches between national table tennis teams of China and the United States in 1971; these matches were part of the exchange program known as "ping pong diplomacy". It has a capacity of 17,345 and a floor space of 54,707 square meters expanded from the old 53,000. It was renovated in 2001 to become a venue for the 2001 Summer Universiade. The stadium hosted one of the first NBA games in China, hosted on October
Beijing National Stadium appearance, it was nicknamed "The Bird's Nest". The phrase was first used by Herzog & de Meuron, though the pair still believes "there should be many ways of perceiving a building." The use is a compliment Li explained, "In China, a bird's nest is very expensive, something you eat on special occasions." Construction of the stadium proceeded in several distinct phases, the first phase involving the construction of a concrete supporting structure upon the concrete foundations laid for the construction site. This was followed by the phased installation of the curved steel frame surrounding the stadium which is largely self-supporting.