8/08/2008 was a lucky day after all for Beijing and the hundreds of millions of Chinese people who had been anticipating these festivities for eight years. Bad weather, protests, terrorist attacks, and the general controversy that surrounded the preparations for the Games had threatened to mar opening ceremony. Nevertheless, when the massive Olympic torch finally lit up the night time sky over the “Bird’s Nest” around 12 AM Beijing time, the world had been treated to a spectacular and flawless performance that extravagantly showcased China’s long history and rich culture. And extravagant it was. Likely the costliest opening ceremony in history, Friday night featured everything from flying people and moving human Chinese characters to a magic globe, and the world’s largest LCD screen which helped to mix reality with dazzling fantasy. Fifteen thousand people made up the cast and crew of this movie like production under the direction of acclaimed Chinese movie director Zhang Yimou.
The night was certainly not without its touching moments. From a beautiful little girl in a red dress sweetly singing a classic Chinese song to a young earthquake survivor leading the Chinese athletes with Yao Ming, the ceremony certainly had the potential to pull on the heartstrings. It was a ceremony that at least for one night allowed the “One World One Dream” motto to be realized. The night was also not without some intrigue. Hu JinTao’s half hearted applause for Chinese Tapei’s entrance followed later by his enthusiastic clapping for Hong Kong probably left some eyebrows raised. Iraq and Iran’s nearly simultaneous entrance was also interesting as was the fact that Russian premier Vladimir Putin remained in his seat when the Russian Olympic Team first made their appearance; later, he was seen standing and clapping.
Overall, I think is really spectacular! It involves a lot of manpower and creativity and hardwork! I even bought the video of the opening! great job Beijing. And for those who try to criticize it so hard, try be fair and instead of commenting the ceremony due to own preferences or unfavorable feeling over China, this is about Olympic. Olympic symbol stands for unity for all. Unity of america asia, australia, europe and africa continent.