Beijing 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony - Photo Gallery
The opening ceremony for the 2008 World Summer Olympics in Beijing, China was a magnificent event, to say the least. The entire global audience watched in awe, mesmerized by the spectacular display the talented Chinese people put forth.
Housed in a humongous stadium known as the "Bird's Nest" due to its unique architectural design and especially built for this year's Olympic games, the ornate and culturally-rich ceremony took place, energizing both the coliseum and all of its spectators.
Several world leaders and VIPs were in attendance. One of which was US President George W. Bush, who received no special treatment and sat in the same seats others did, and rightfully so. Although he may not admit it, I'm sure he too was very much impressed with the Chinese' amazing exhibition. It was a manifestation of not only Chinese talent, discipline, and man-power, but a solid representation of the growing, budding, and emerging nation of modern China.
If you weren't able to catch glimpse of the opening ceremony, you most likely missed the best one in all of World Olympics history. Complete with a dazzling array of fireworks extending throughout the metropolis, a vast display of pyrotechnics lit up the night in Beijing.
With grand pyrotechnics, a massive stadium with distinct architecture, and also the world's largest LED screen being among the major theatrical props, it was indeed a very high-tech and masterfully engineered display. Along with that were thousands of special lights and lighting equipment, 15,000+ costumes in 47 styles, 110 minutes of music composed by 18 composers, brilliant mass choreography, and well-disciplined volunteer dancers and performers whose performances have been rehearsed for 13 months.
Surprisingly, a few of the significant portions of the opening ceremony that seemed to be controlled by some genius technology were in fact being driven by mass man-power. And if you didn't watch the ceremony, you will not know to what extent or what exactly I am talking about. But if you can get a hold of a video copy or visit YouTube, I assure you it will definitely be worth your time.
You can bear witness to what I am referring to right now via the photo gallery slide show below. As a final statement, I would like to say that it must have been a very proud moment for all Chinese for their awesome work and effort put into their hosting of the 2008 World Olympics. In fact, I am not Chinese, but I too was proud of their work, and even envious of their rich culture and unique country.
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i was in beijing during the olympics and i can truly say that china is such an underrated country. all the negative things and criticisms that the media has been playing upon them have done a big part in hiding the real china from the world - and once you're there, it will truly take your breath away. with or without the olympics, china is on the rise as a nation of great undertaking and hope.
yes, they are a communist state and they have issues... but who doesn't? at least, with them, you can see how they have pushed the nation forward from the cultural revolution of the 60's to what it is now...
I forgot to place my name on my comment.... hehehe.
I am the one who commented with a mention of Arianne Cendena.
Noi Ramirez
Philippines
http://genkuro.blogspot.com/
The 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony was truly an awesome event. Like the other opening ceremonies done in the past culminating with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron which will burn for 18 days.
If the extravagance and wonderful performance done during the event is any indication then the closing ceremonies might just as well be great and I'm looking froward to it.
Despite the mere 11 delegates the Philippines sent to this years Olympiad, I'm still hoping one of them brings home the Philippines first Official Olympic Gold.
If memory serves me right, we had a gold in bowling in the person of Arianne Cerdena during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Too bad that bowling was just a demonstration sport during that Olympiad. So her gold cannot be counted as an official gold won by the country. Nevertheless, Arianne shot to immortality in Philippine Sports because of her winning.
I also watched in the National Geographic months before about the odyssey of what now stands as the Bird's Nest and the Bubble as well as the preparations for the opening. The bird's nest is the main stadium and the Bubble is where all the water sports will be done. Too bad part of the opening ceremonies was leaked to the world by SBS Korea. But watching the event and seeing that the leak was only a minute part of the elaborate Chinese Puzzle or tableau and it didn't quash my excitement watching the scenes unfold, all 4 hours and 30 minutes of it.
Watching the opening ceremony up to lighting the cauldron, I am wondering when will the Philippines be progressive, truly peaceful and developed enough to host such an event and which city in the Philippines gets it. (NOTE: The olympic hosting is awarded to a city of a country)
I hope it will happen in my lifetime.
The Beijing Olympics Grand Opening was a testament of China's ascension to the world stage, never again looked upon as a backward nation. The country has rightfully earned that respect and prestige. After all, China is where the first recorded human civilization begun. The Middle Kingdom long sought by western explorers.
"Measured on PPP (Purchasing Power Parity)basis,China's 2007 Total GDP stood at US$6.991 Trillion, second largest economy in the world after the United States of America's $13.84 Trillion (2007), although in per capita income terms, China is still lower middle class income country, which GDP Per Capita PPP stands at $5,300." (CIA World Fact Book)
In 2007, China's economy grew 11.4%, while the USA grew only 2.2%. China's economy has been growing more than 10% for about 30 years. If this astonishing economic growth continues, China will be the world's largest economy by 2050 or ealier as predicted by many respected economists. Consider these facts, China's labor force stands at 803.3 million as compared to America's 153.1 million. Poverty in China is 8% of its population while in the United States,it is 12%.
It hurts to admit that American kids, in general, do not value science and math as much as Chinese children do. China graduates more engineers, in fact,three times more than that of the United States. If Americans continue to be complacent, we will just be standing on the side watching China ascends to become the world power,and America becomes one fact for history books,the way the Roman Empire, Spanish Empire and the British Empire were left in the dust bin of world history. May God forbid that America joins the league of past powers.
What is devastating is the fact that America's current debt stands at about $9 Trillion and we owed most of it from China.
Time for America to wake up and mend our ways. While we should all welcome China's rise as a formidable player in the world stage, America should realize that competitiveness is an on-going challenge, we cannot afford to stand still nor slumber.
We value our heritage, people from various countries of the world who, for whatever reasons made a personal decision to come to America and become part of the the American Melting Pot and formed that American Dream. As an act of gratitude, we owe our loyalty to America whose loving arms welcome all of us and embrace us just the way we are. America is not a perfect country, nor is any other country. America is a work in progress, but our decision to live here mandates us to be loyal and true to our citizenship. This 2008 Beijing Olympics has re-awakened my patriotism to the country I chose to love despite her imperfections, while not being oblivious to my country of heritage. I find no conflict in embracing both.
The American Experiment continues, if it fails, we only have ourselves to blame.
Willy Acuna
Dallas,Texas
USA