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China comes of age in stunning style
Fireworks light up the sky outside the Bird's Nest stadium, where 91,000 people witnessed a spectacular opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Photo: AP
China commandeered the world stage on Friday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pageantry and pyrotechnics to open a Summer Games unrivalled for its mix of problems and promise.
Now ascendant as a global power, China welcomed scores of world leaders to an opening ceremony watched by 91,000 people at the eye-catching National Stadium and a potential audience of 4 billion worldwide. It was depicted as the largest, costliest extravaganza in Olympic history, highlighted by barrages of some 30,000 fireworks.
It ended in spectacular fashion, when China's first Olympic superstar, 1984 six-time gymnastics gold medalist Li Ning, was hoisted by wires to the top of the stadium, circled the circumference as though he was spacewalking, then used his torch to send a torrent of flame spiraling upward to light the Olympic flame in a huge cauldron overlooking Beijing.
Members of the Chinese delegation wave national flags during the parade at the Bird's Nest.
Photo: AP
That was preceded by the parade of
athletes, climaxing with the entry of the 639-strong Chinese team; It was led by flag-bearer and basketball idol Yao Ming alongside a 9-year-old schoolboy who survived May's devastating earthquake in Sichuan province.
The welcome – by a frenzied, chanting, flag-waving crowd that sought to cool itself with paper fans in the stifling heat – was thunderous. And moments later, the crowd erupted again when President Hu Jintao declared the games formally open.
President George W. Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin were among the glittering roster of notables who watched China make this bold declaration that it had arrived. Mr Bush, rebuked by China after he raised human rights concerns this week, is the first US president to attend an Olympics on foreign soil.
"For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games," IOC President Jacques Rogge said in his speech. "Tonight, that dream comes true."
Dr Rogge mentioned the Sichuan earthquake, saying the world was moved "by the great courage and solidarity of the Chinese people". And he exhorted the assembled athletes, as role models for the world's youth, to "reject doping and cheating".
Majestic imagery
The story presented in Friday's pageantry sought to distil 5,000 years of Chinese history – featuring everything from the Great Wall to opera puppets to astronauts, and highlighting achievements in art, music and science. Roughly 15,000 people were in the cast, all under the direction of Zhang Yimou, whose early films often ran foul of government censors for their blunt portrayals of China's problems.
A dancer performs during the opening ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium.
Photo: AP
He produced some majestic and ethereal imagery – at one point a huge, translucent globe emerged from the stadium floor, and acrobats floated magically around it to the accompaniment of the games' theme song,
One World, One Dream.
The show's script steered clear of modern politics – there were no references to Chairman Mao and the class struggle, nor to the more recent conflicts and controversies. The ceremony was taped for broadcast 12 hours later in the United States.
A record 204 delegations paraded their athletes through the stadium – superstars such as tennis great Roger Federer and basketball's Kobe Bryant, as well as plucky underdogs from Iraq, Afghanistan and other embattled lands.
The nations were marching not in the traditional alphabetical order but in a sequence based on the number of strokes it takes to write their names in Chinese. The exceptions were Greece, birthplace of the Olympics, which was given its traditional place at the start, and the Chinese team, which lined up last.
Athletes from Japan, an old foe and current economic rival of China, were greeted coolly by the crowd even though they waved tiny Chinese flags. But cheers erupted for the next delegation, Taiwan.
The US team – second-largest after China's with nearly 600 members – was welcomed loudly, with many in crowd recognising the basketball stars who brought up the rear.
In the eyes of the home crowd, the omens were good in a ceremony that heavily featured the most auspicious of numbers – it began at 8pm on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008.
"It was not easy to meet with such a date," said Wang Wei, secretary general of Beijing Organising Committee. "Hopefully this lucky day will bring luck."