Beijing police clamp down on “Bird’s Nest” tourists

BEIJING – Beijing has moved to crack down on drivers who park their cars illegally on a major highway to take snaps from a pedestrian bridge with good views of the major Olympic stadiums, local media reported on Sunday.

BEIJING – Beijing has moved to crack down on drivers who park their cars illegally on a major highway to take snaps from a pedestrian bridge with good views of the major Olympic stadiums, local media reported on Sunday.

Authorities have posted traffic police on a highway overpass near the Olympic village in a bid to stop the hundreds of cars and tourist buses from pausing to take photos of the main “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium and the “Water Cube” Swimming Centre, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

Offenders would have their number plates photographed by camera-toting cops, and be fined 200 yuan ($28), the paper said, adding that signs posted two months ago to warn off motorists had not worked.

The pedestrian bridge spanning the highway had also become a haunt for hawkers doing a thriving trade in Polaroids and counterfeit Olympic merchandise, the paper said.

Some vendors had even set up computers and printers to sell “10-yuan photos of people posing with the Bird’s Nest,” it said.

“Pirated Fuwa (Olympic mascots), had also taken advantage of the view, selling well, with 10 and 20-yuan key-rings proving particularly popular,” the paper said.

sport.guardian.co.uk

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Share to...