Sixteen journalists from different overseas media on Wednesday toured the Olympic stadia under construction in Beijing and all were impressed by the design and facilities.

The group of journalists, who are in Beijing to report the ongoing women's softball worlds, the first Olympic test event in Beijing, visited the National Stadium and National Aquatics Center located inside Beijing's Olympic Green.

The visitors showed keen interest in the two venues, which are well-known as "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube". They listened to the on-spot introduction by the engineers and asked questions about the progress of the projects and required the details in quality of the building materials, internal facilities and external designs as well as construction plans within the time limits.

Jow Kala Tch from the Wall Street Journal was impressed by the designs of distinguished features in the two venues and intended to write a detailed report on Beijing's preparations for the Olympic Games. He is willing to be back to Beijing in 2008 to witness the venues with a complete view.

In an interview given by Beijing TV, Masashi Shuto, journalist from The Sports Nippon News, said that the "Bird's Nest", the main stadium for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and the "Water Cube", which is the landmark building of Beijing 2008, are very beautiful and the designs are striking.

The journalists all took photos on spot to preserve a permanent memory of those symbolic buildings and some of them learned to pronounce the "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube" in Chinese to bring home something native.

Source: Xinhua