Just five months after the Beijing Olympics, the Bird’s Nest is a cavernous museum searching for a new purpose. The iconic National Stadium drew acclaim for its daring design, an engineering marvel that borders on sculpture. Now it draws about 10,000 tourists a day — mostly Chinese — who pay 50 yuan (about $7) to walk on the stadium floor, then climb through the expensive seats to a souvenir shop hawking pricey mementos recalling Zhang Yimou’s dazzling opening ceremony or the three world records set by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

A symbol of China’s rising power and confidence, the stadium may never recoup the $450 million the government spent to build it. It has yet to draw big-ticket events, has no permanent tenant, and only one date has been announced for this year. Puccini’s opera “Turandot,” directed by Zhang.

This is a long-term worry for the company that manages the stadium. Beijing CITIC Consortium Stadium Operations Co Ltd says the stadium can generate annual revenue of $30 million, even while acknowledging that estimate is “optimistic.”

The stadium didn’t come cheaply, and neither do the official souvenirs. A metallic replica of the stadium goes for 4,800 yuan (about $700), a replica torch kit is 2,900 (about $430) and baseball caps are a more affordable 98 ($14). Of course, street vendors outside the stadium offer counterfeit merchandise at one-tenth the price.

The management company said that bids for lucrative naming rights — potentially a large revenue producer — were not being taken, because of the iconic nature of the stadium.

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