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Beijing’s Perfect Night
Written by Robert Vance on August 9, 2008 – 1:49 pm8/08/2008 was a lucky day after all for Beijing and the hundreds of millions of Chinese people who had been anticipating Friday night’s festivities for eight years. Bad weather, protests, terrorist attacks, and the general controversy that surrounded the preparations for the Games had threatened to mar Friday night’s 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.
“Wonderful,” was how most of my Chinese students described the ceremony this morning. “I was so proud of China,” said another. Each person I talked to seem to have a different favorite part of the ceremony; there were so many spectacular moments. “This shows that China is now a modern country,” a friend told me today. “Everything was perfect.”
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.
Other than the Chinese team, it seemed that the Americans received the warmest reception from the Olympic crowd. A thunderous roar of applause could be heard throughout the stadium as the American squad entered sporting their “crisp” white shirts, ivory cuffed pants, and navy blue blazers. It was ten minutes before the next country was even announced as the Americans waved to the world and to President Bush and his wife, who were also in attendance. I felt a little sorry for Zambia, the last team to make an appearance before Chinese entered. The crowd started cheering for the Chinese team after Zambia had been on the floor for 10 seconds. I am not so sure that the Zambians, who looked pleasantly surprised the loud cheering, realized that they had already been forgotten about.
Many of my friends and students did not stay up late enough to witness the lighting of the torch; they certainly missed out. China’s perhaps most beloved Olympic superstar, former triple gymnastics gold medalist Li Ning, flew through the air and appeared to be “spacewalking” around the perimeter of the stadium before igniting the torch, still suspended in the air. It was a grand end to a truly moving and unforgettable event.
Bloggers such as myself who did enjoy the event will surely be accused by some of falling prey to an elaborate Chinese facade. So be it. For me, the ceremony last night was not about the Chinese government. No reference was made to Chairman Mao, Tibet, or any other politically sensitive topics. Last night was all about the richness of Chinese culture; the performance was for the Chinese people. Many Chinese people, especially in the older generation, could never have dared to imagine that their country, once so closed off to the world, would ever have the chance to host such a premier world event. I am happy for them; they deserved last night. It was a long time coming.
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Agree on all accounts, EXCEPT for the VERY creepy scene of the flag being snatched by goose-stepping PLA soldiers from the children costumed in ethnic clothing. A great deal of analogy can be seen in that exchange.
[...] left Chinese and foreigners with mouths agape. You can read more about the official start of the 2008 Olympic Games here…in other Olympic news, an American tourist was killed this morning in Beijing, apparently the [...]
you mean the same PLA soldiers who fought and died trying to save ppl in SiChuan earthquake?
this is the problem, when you see a PLA, u think of tiananmen square, what chinese see a PLA, well they used to think of tiananmen too but they are thinking of the earthquake now for they have moved on.
why cant u?
@Required,
Good point. I think people are reading a little too much into that particluar part of the ceremony.