Olympic spirit explodes on the cauldronIt keeps getting better and better these Olympic opening ceremonies but give the Chinese a chance at showing off, they literally blow you away against a backdrop of seemingly endless fireworks.
China waited a long time for the world's attention and when they got it, they made sure it was all for the right reasons.
The deployment of 15,000 Chinese performers to tell 2,000 years of Chinese history was meticulously choreographed with precision and synchronicity by Zhang Yimou!
They cleverly reminded the world who invented the gunpowder and pioneered the art of paper making
A lovely Chinese history lesson for the world.
The parade of nations renewed our acquaintances with lesser known nations and would be not known if not for the Olympics. After what seems to be miles and miles of unending nations to parade, finally the host nation emerged led by Houston rockets star Yao Ming who probably felt much taller than 7' 6" that night. Also leading the 1099 host delegation was 9 year old Lin Hao, a Sichuan earthquake survivor/hero, who felt equally tall if not taller as he waved two flags walking side by side with Yao Ming.
Li Ning multi gold medal gymnast, finally put an end to the speculation as to who will light the cauldron. Pandas, star hurdler Liu Xiang, other olympic veterans and an astronaut were possible candidates.
The dramatic final torch "levitation run" around the bird's nest stadium before it finally spilled onto the cauldron was nothing short of spectacular. Only the the Hollywood-staged lighting of the cauldron at the LA Olympics could probably rival this.
It was special for me as the build up to the games was a feat in itself done with such professionalism and hype that I felt deeply engaged with the games long before the start. What's even more special was my Aussie mate Daryl was in town bringing along 2 lovely colleagues who are Chinese nationals equally looking forward to the opening ceremony.
I was the perfect host at WIP as we all had a blast that night!
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Awesome, and I didn't know about
ReplyDeletethat Lin Hao guy! Cool =)
Ya. In the recent Sichuan earthquake more than 80,000 people are dead or missing. Lin Hao suffered from multiple injuries but managed to help rescue his school friends from collapsed school buildings. A real hero.
ReplyDeleteGod bless him, =)
ReplyDelete