How & Wow!

Beijing welcomed the world to the Games of the 29th Olympiad on 8 August with an Opening Ceremony that began at 8:00 pm (1200GMT). The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. A Zhang Yimou-directed performance dazzled the 90,000-plus spectators that filled the National Stadium.

Famed Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who designed and directed the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, clearly knows how to make use of a $300 million budget - and has a filmmaker’s sense of what looks good on a big screen. Famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang, British soprano Sarah Brightman and Chinese Liu Huan performed during the opening ceremony.

It was the biggest and most expensive opening ceremony in Olympic history, featuring a reported 30,000 fireworks, and is unlikely ever to be matched - although it is London which will have the unenviable task of trying to live up to today’s epic in four year’s time.

The end of the torch relay produced a dramatic climax, as China’s 1984 gymnastics superstar Li Ning flew up into the rafters of the Bird’s Nest Stadium hoisted on wires, running around the rim as though space walking before the torch he was carrying sent a blast of flame to light the giant torch which looks out over the city.

Watch the [Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony Video]

References [NBCOlympics|Pageantry], [NBCOlympics|Pyrotechnics], [WallStreetJournal], [SportsIllustrated], [BostonBigPicture]

Technorati Tags: Bird Nest, Beijing, Olympics, Opening Ceremony, Footage, Highlight, Zhang Yimou, Li Ning, Sarah Brightman