With 2,008 drummers pounding in unison to thousands of flashing colored lights, fireworks, dancing and acrobatics, Beijing welcomed the world to the Games of the 29th Olympiad. Athletes from 205 nations marched into the stadium and celebrated what is being touted as China's emergence as a cultural, political and economic power. "For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games," said Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee. "Tonight that dream comes true."
The crowd chanted, "Jaiyou, jaiyou" inside the "Bird's Nest" stadium that pulsated with waving red flags. The word, pronounced "jie yo," literally means gas or fuel, but in China it is the equivalent of "go, go." The Chinese consider the number 8 lucky, so the ceremonies began precisely at 8:08 local time on 8/8/08. The elaborate spectacle lasted four hours and 10 minutes.
Chinese gymnast Li Ning lit the Olympic cauldron after being lifted up 300 feet to the top of the stadium by an invisible wire. From there, he ran around the lip of the stadium, finally lighting a fuse that sent fire snaking up the giant cauldron, which erupted in flame. The Olympic slogan, "One World, One Dream," represents, in essence, an extended hand from this 5,000-year-old nation of 1.3 billion people to the rest of the world. (CCTV)
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