Chattering excitedly, a tour group from Shanghai queues to enter the Bird’s Nest National Stadium that was the heart of the Beijing Olympics last summer. Another crowd from the provinces, all wearing identical red baseball caps, trail after their guide into the cavernous interior.

On a chilly spring day dozens of tourists paid 200 yuan (£20) to pose for a photograph standing on the medals podium where track and field stars such as Christine Ohuruogu from Britain were presented with their gold medals. That was on top of the 50 yuan entrance fee.

“It’s expensive,” said one woman from central Henan province. “It only costs 60 to get into the Palace Museum and that’s a really ancient building with a lot of history where the emperors used to live. I think it’s not worth it.”

The authorities, who spent $450 million (£304 million) to build the eye-catching sports venue, must be hoping that hers is not a common view. Few Chinese begrudge the Government the bill it footed to stage possibly the most spectacular Olympics.

A question mark does hang over what to do with the empty Nest, which was one of 12 venues built for the Games.

The Water Cube, where Michael Phelps won more golds than any other Olympian in history, has proved easier to convert. It will become a water-themed fun park complete with a fake beach and wave machine.

Ensuring that the Bird’s Nest finds a use is proving more of a challenge. Already 11,000 of its 91,000 seats have been removed and there are only two events on the calendar. On the first anniversary of the Games on August 8 Zhang Yimou, the film director and architect of the opening ceremony, will put on a performance of Puccini’s opera Turandot. Jackie Chan, the film star, will perform at a concert, Descendants of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and Friends, over the May Day holiday. It will be the first show in the stadium since the Games closed. Local media reported that it costs about 4.5 million yuan to rent the stadium for a day.

Zhang Hengli, the deputy manager of the CITIC consortium Stadium Operation Company, said: “Most stadiums in the world run in normal methods are not able to make profit . . . stadiums in Beijing are mostly located in busy areas so we can guarantee a certain flow of people.”

Economic conditions may let him down, however. Mr Zhang said that the revenue from the 20,000 to 30,000 daily visitors could cover the 70 million yuan maintenance costs but, “to be honest, it’s not very easy to find regular uses for a stadium”.