Hello dear Steemians,

[In this series of posts I will show you some of the coolest, weirdest and most unusual buildings in the world. I will always choose a city (or country) and pick two or three buildings I thought suitable to show on here. If your favourite building wasn't featured, feel free to tell me in the comments and I will consider putting it in another episode (many cities will be in multiple episodes, you just can not cover all of a city's highlights in two or three examples). But enough explaining, on to the second episode!]

Episode Two: Beijing

The capital of the country with the highest population in the world is also one of the biggest cities in the world (by population) placing second or fourth depending on the list you look at. It is divided into 16 districts. In terms of architecture, Beijing is very rich in variety, since it has traditional as well as modern buildings. Its origins go back three thousand years and it housed many Chinese dynasties. It became capital eight hundred years ago and its name first appeared in the year 1403 during the Ming dynasty.

Cool, weird and unusual building Number 1: Beijing National Stadium

The National Stadium of Beijing was built for the Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008. It was one of the two new stadiums, this one for athletics, the other one for swimming. Interestingly, the two stadiums don't look alike whatsoever which is exactly what makes them fit together, because the less similar the better. The stadium has a nickname, which is "Bird's Nest" and, I mean look at it. Isn't that precisely what it looks like? As mentioned, it served as the athletics stadium in 2008 and some remarkable world records were set in it. First up, Usain Bolt with his first appearance on the media that went really viral, setting the new record for the 100 meters at 9.69 seconds and the record for 200 meters at 19.30.

Cool, weird and unusual building Number 2: CCTV Headquarters

The China Central Television Headquarters were built in 2012 and actually won a prize for 2013 Best Tall Building Worldwide from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The construction actually was quite a challenge due to its unique shape. It was managed by building three separate buildings and joining them together. Another difficulty is to this day, that the building is in a seismic zone meaning that it had to be built so that it can resist earthquakes. Just as the "Bird's Nest", this building has a nickname. It is "big pants", since the building looks a bit like a huge pair of trousers from the right angle.

Cool, weird and unusual building Number 3: Chaoyang Park Plaza

The Plaza of the park in one of Beijing's districts, Chaoyang really stings out of the general image of the city with its black color. It is supposed to look like two huge black rocks growing out of the water. It is an "extension of the park into the city", as stated officially. The whole park is the last remaining park in Beijing's district area featuring a roller coaster, multiple lakes and the Beijing Great Wheel which had to go into receivership in 2010. Not to see in the picture are other buildings that also belong to the plaza that are supposed to form mountain rocks that have endured long-term erosion.

That was episode number two, if you haven't seen the first one, you can find it here: https://steemit.com/architecture/@garnix/architectural-curiosities-episode-one
Leave feedback in the comments as usual and until next time!