FireLink

China Opens Olympics with a Bang

BEIJING — When does an eight become a perfect 10 for the world’s most populous country?

That long-anticipated blissful moment finally arrived Friday for China. At 8 p.m. on the 8th day of the 8th month of year 2008, the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics masterfully blended the historic richness of the Silk Road and the modern vibrancy of the hi-tech world.

Eight, that luckiest of Chinese numbers, kept its promise when the country made its debut on the world stage. Eights ruled obsessively.

To start the four-hour extravaganza, a light from a giant sun dial pierced the darkness and illuminated the 2008 performers playing Fou percussion instruments, drums ringed with lights that made the infield at Bird’s Nest national stadium look like a gigantic blinking hi def screen and sound like an undulating gong.

Then fireworks shaped as eights surrounded the stadium’s roof and launched a massive fireworks display. The crowd of 91,000 stood up on cue, shaking their Chinese national red flags and roaring approval.

After the most politically charged atmosphere to ever advance an Olympics, it was party time for China’s communist party. The government spent $40 billion to stage these Olympics and remake the city. The first day went off without a hitch at a party that was totally over the top. Even checking in and getting through the heaviest security ever went smoothly.

The ever present smog didn’t seem to put a damper on things. And suspense hung in the air as the cauldron, the lighting of which is always one of the most speculated about parts of the ceremony, was no where to be seen for the first two hours.

It took months of seeding the clouds. The rains stayed away. It took years to woo the world’s political leaders as criticism against China’s crackdown on Tibet, its abuse of human rights and persecution of religious groups threatened to keep them away. Ninety international dignitaries attended, including U.S president George Bush. It took massive efforts to prevent a boycott. No country boycotted. This was a 10 for China, which in the world of sports is as good as it gets.

The accolades will go to artistic director Zhang Yimou, a Chinese movie director known for House of Flying Dagger. This became his show, and his show alone, when Steven Spielberg pulled out in March to protest China’s support of the Sudan regime accused of genocide in Sudan.

No single act of Zhang’s show stole the show leading up to the parade of athletes. The sheer magnitude, performers numbered in the 14,000 and the technology, from the screen on the stadium floor to the wrap around video screen at the top of the stadium, were the stars of the night.

After the arrival of Chinese president Hu Jintao and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, the National Flag was raised, the National Anthem sung. Then a show combined the oldest of traditions in the most modern of formats. A short film shown on the infield floor described the process of Chinese scroll painting, a technique that appeared 1,500 years ago.

---