FEB 8 marks the six-month anniversary of the Beijing Olympics' grand opening at the Bird's Nest stadium and much has changed in the past half a year.

The skies in Beijing are no longer as blue, Olympic traffic lanes bear the five-ring logos but carry no special privileges and Michael Phelps has gone from medals to marijuana.

But something remains unchanged - the Chinese people's enthusiasm and pride in the Beijing Games.

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

While the Olympic flame has long been extinguished, for the thousands who still head to the Bird's Nest daily, it is almost as if Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was still galloping to gold in the stadium.

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

The excitement starts miles before the stadium. On Friday morning, when I took the subway towards the Olympic Green, the squeals of delight could be heard the moment visitors switched to Line 8 - the four-stop Olympic subway line.

Camera started clicking at the station because it bears the name "Olympic Sports Center" and familiar Beijing Olympic tunes like "You and Me" and "Beijing Welcomes You" serenaded passengers.

It almost feels like August 8 again, as a mother excitedly told her young son that "we are going to the Bird's Nest, we are going to the Bird's Nest!"

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

Touted as a symbol of rising Chinese nationalism, the Nest is an architectural marvel that is now a must-see for Beijing tourists - joining a long and illustrated list that includes the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

Some 10,000 gamely paid 50 yuan (S$10.90) a day to enter the stadium and about a million reportedly lingered at the Olympic Green area - free of charge - during the recent Chinese New Year holidays, just to admire the stadium's impressive lattice design.

It was so crowded when I was there that the security officers blocked some visitors from approaching the ticket counter. They were allowed in only when those at the counter had purchased their tickets and moved into the stadium.

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

And that is when you noticed the biggest difference between now and during the Olympic Games.

While the Games had thousands of smiling, polite and eager young Chinese volunteers to usher you in when you pass the turnstiles, they have been replaced by a bunch of non-smiling and surly workers and security guards.

"Go that way," barked a guard when visitors failed to take the right entry lane.

Yes, the Olympics is well and truly over.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times here.