08.08.08 - World Watches as China Arrives with the Olympics

ONE OF THE MOST MESMERIZING EXPERIENCES OF RECENT TIMES, the live performance of the opening ceremony of the 29th modern Olympics at Beijing surpassed all expectations. Even the foreign correspondence who have been in Beijing since a few months, measuring the air-quality, spying, and commenting on the build-up, and covering the unveiling of the Olympics, in spite of having stolen away a video footage from the rehearsals a week ago, were neither aware of nor prepared for the enthralling experience of the pinnacle event - lighting of the Olympics torch...


[Above: Li Ning "walks" on the walls, with the backdrop of video panels on the edge of the roof of Bird's Nest, on his way to light the 29th Modern Olympics torch at Beijing on August 8th, 2008 at 08.08pm CST. Here is this footage on YouTube.]

Unquestionably, China has arrived. Hello World!

As they say, well began is half done... And going by the analyst reposts, I suppose the icing on the cake for them would be the closing ceremony with China bagging most Gold medals!

[Related post: The Dalai Lama meets with the Mahatma]
[Go here for the official games schedule, and here for the medals standings.]
[Go here for a guide on How to watch the Olympics online.]
[Go here for the BBC coverage of the opening ceremony.]
[Go here for the list of "the ten Chinese people you should know about" - including Li Ning who is the biggest sports brand in China.]