OIympic Opening Ceremony Pictures (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

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Now ascendant as a global power, China welcomed scores of world leaders to an opening ceremony watched by 91,000 people at the eye-catching National Stadium and a potential audience of 4 billion worldwide. It was depicted as the largest, costliest extravaganza in Olympic history, bookended by barrages of some 30,000 fireworks.

Read more about the ceremony from AP. Check out the slideshow from the ceremony below. Check back for updates.

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Photos courtesy of AP, AFP and Reuters

The Sydney Morning Herald called the event a "perfect opening."

An eight became a perfect 10 in Beijing tonight.

The opening ceremony of the 29th Olympics Games began at precisely 8pm on the eighth day of the eighth month, 2008.

A Chinese opera performance, surrounded by 3000 disciples of Confucius, was a parochial and fitting moment during the first half of the performance.

The demonstration of Taijiquan, the most representative shadow boxing in Chinese martial arts, brought the crowd to its feet in warm applause one hour into the ceremony.

Click here for more reviews of the opening ceremony.

HuffPost blogger Jack Hidary describes the ceremony from Beijing:

The Beijing Olympics are off with a bang. Red and white fireworks criss-cross the stadium as the crowd cheers.

One thousand men beat on large square drums. White lights flash off the drums with each beat.

A young girl in red steps forward and sings the Chinese patriotic song Five Stars as the crowd waves tens of thousands of red national flags.

The guard raises the main standard as the military band play the national anthem. The majority of the audience is clearly Chinese as a good part of stadium is chanting along to this not-very-catchy tune.

Now the birds nest stadium goes dark and a white scroll emerges from the center. As it unfurls the letters are made up of dancers in black. Pilobolus would be proud.

This ceremony is clearly going to focus on Chinese themes -- this is not an international mosaic but an exploration of how and why China got to where it is today.

More video from outside the Bird's Nest

Comments

[30sumthink]

i agree with your impressions and I am glad that zhang Yimon and his Chinese team were successful in designing and producing the opening ceremony. And even more so that they did not have to share the credits with Steven Spielberg who chose to focus on Darfur. They obviously did not need his input.

[TheBlackCat]

China may have put on the most spectacular opening ceremonies ever, but we paid for it. Interest off the billions in U.S.A. loans that China owns would easily cover the expense.

[IAmYourDad]

and there is only one person to blame

[Jeffin90019]

Yes, Bill Clinton.

[cmp]

Like them or not, approve of their policies or not, no other country in the world has the expertise, and discipline, creativity , artistry and endurance of the Chinese. If you see the TerraCotta Warriors and appreciate the fact that their armor during the Dynasties were made of stone and weighed 150 lbs.. then you'll be able to see the sheer strenght of the ,on average, 130 lb. man. These opening ceremonies were no surprise to me but I'm glad the rest of the world had a chance to see China.

[personalpolitical]

Is it just me or is John McCain totally ruining the spirit of the Olympics with his constant negative attacks??:

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/08/ruining-my-olympics.html

[calpoet]

There's no doubt that the opening ceremony was astonishing. Though I'm usually resistant to excessive spectacle, I was inspired by it. To me it was a symbol of what human beings are capable of doing when they act together collectively instead of competitively.Beauty, harmony, technical magic, dance, precision,music--all possible instead of war, conflict, competition, anger, hatred.
It is ironic, of course, that its magic was occuring while Putin's armies invaded Georgia and Bush's armies continue to destroy Afghanistan and Iraq...and both were looking on cheering the show called "One World, One Dream." Everytime the cameras cut away to Bush or Putin it reminded me how far away from that inspiring vision we actually are.
The guy who directed the event and those who choreographed it are absolute geniuses. (read about them at http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/ceremonies/n214143744.shtml) What a mind boggling show!

[IAmYourDad]

he is the director of the movie "Hero" I believe

[Ohg]

The opening ceremony demonstrated the need for individuals to work together in harmony - is this a message to the http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/08/10/the-birds-nest-cradle-of-the-future-video/m/2008/08/10/the-birds-nest-cradle-of-the-future-video/

[sassafra]

wow, it's uncanny. the first selection in the picture slideshow of the opening ceremonies with the two curved arcs of white/orange/yellow fireworks in the lavendar lit sky over the stadium look just like the eye of sauron from lord of the rings.
go figure, huh?

[IAmYourDad]

Yep, and the smoke from the burning W T C look like the face of the devil too. go figure.

[fantanfanny]

Hey wheres the pics and comments of our leader Boosh patting the tattoos atop the womens volleyball teams but-kraks?? Did I miss your article on the Village Idiot showing off in China??

[Mariel]

It's not the best if you can't watch it. We had to get å cheaper cable lineup a year ago, and the cheaper one is minus MSNBC. So we saw almost none of it. I agree that it is wrong not to show it, but MSNBC must make a living.

[ZaneC]

Does anyone know where to find the opening ceremony online? I did not get to see it when it was broadcast, and it's depressing to read about how spectacular it was and not to be able to see most of it because the only American station with the right to broadcast it has blocked out all other sources, including foreign ones.

On that same train of thought, it is worrisome to see a corporation with the ability to block out a major world event. It may only be the opening ceremony, but if NBC can get away with it this time, there is a chance they could again with something much more important. The whole business with them pulling it from YouTube and asking foreign media outlets to not allow Americans to watch their video of it via the internet smells too much like the capitalist-equivalent of a totalitarian state, even if the only motivation is profit.

[PDXTransplant]

I'm sure you can find a lot of it on Youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=opening+ceremony+beijing+2008&search_type=

[ZaneC]

Actually, all of the videos on YouTube that actually show significant parts of the ceremony are "no longer available due to a copyright claim by a third party." For example, from the link you have, click on "Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony Part 1 2008." A couple videos show links to sites that may have video, but they sound kind of shady (such as the one displayed with the video "2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony" posted by lboogzolympics). I would check them out if my anit-virus software were better.

Still, thanks. YouTube is always a good place to start.

[billkarwin]

The ceremony is copyright by the International Olympic Committee and reproduction of it is explicitly prohibited. There was a copyright statement during the broadcast.

I would guess they'll sell a DVD of it in a couple of months. Probably after they can produce highlights of the games themselves, too. If they do that, I recommend buying it -- it was quite amazing!

[ZaneC]

Reproduction of it is prohibited, but what about allowing American citizens to view other countries' video of it? I do not think the copyright covers that, but, if it does, then this country is truly controlled by the corporations.

[Manni]

A Country like China will never take up Baseball or Cricket that does not do much for their communist Govt. You knowm the peoples sport don't do much for them.

All sports activities have to make their Gvt look good.

That's end all for them! The Govt is paying their whores (Their citizens) good money... They better perform!

[qdog112]

Leave it to your ilk to find something wrong with the GREATEST LIVE SHOW EVER - that's right not just the Olympics - ANY LIVE SHOW - short of the big bang. If you believe in it.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST!

[PDXTransplant]

Damn you are weird.

[PaulinaSmedes]

That is weird. Watching a video taken from NOS television, hearing a familiar voice in a familiar language... on Huffington Post. I don't watch that much tv, hadn't seen the opening ceremony yet. Must have been so impressive for those who were actually inside the stadium.

Anyway, if you're tired of NBC's err, non-coverage and wanna watch it live: http://os2008.nos.nl/live/index/kanaal/1

[Irons]

Boy, will somebody shut up the tv commentators. Their American snobbery pours like syrup from a plastic bottle.

[chinationreport]

To be fair, I see already encouraging progress due to this great show. It really gave people a chance to see another side of China. China is far from perfect. But give China, Chinese and even its government some credit. Listen to Yao Ming. Why does he go back to play for China despite his NBA status? He has the freedom to come in and out of China. He is perfectly free to stay here in the US. But did you hear him speak last night. He said he was almost in tears, for the pride he has in his country. This does not mean that he does not like America. But he wants to continue to be a bridge of communication and help the two worlds understand each other.
Does anyone want to say that he went back to play for China because the Chinese government has a gun pointed at his head? No!! Did you listen to Ziyi Zhang's interview on Vogue? She said she is proud of her country. Do you think she said it because of fear?
As far as Tibet goes, how about talking to a few American Indians here first.

Enjoy the Games. USA vs China basketball right now.

http://www.chinationreport.com/

[Manni]

chinationreport,

I have flagged you for being a Chinese P;ropoganda piece of $hit!

[realityczech4u]

And I have just flagged you for being a rabid xenophobe.

[TheBlackCat]

From what I have heard, there is indeed wide support for their government by the Chinese people. However when your government controls the press and runs massive propoganda campaigns, then wouldn't it be expected for the people to mostly support the government? When any books, movies, etc that are critical of the government are banned (and sometimes burned publically), how can you then say the people even know what their government is doing? If you only hear good things about what your government does, then of course you would support them. Societies with a healthy respect for freedom of speech and freedom of the press are the only ones in which a people's support of their government really means anything.

[Halfwit]

China is North Korea with money.
These Olympics will be remembered like the Nazi Olympics in the thirties. An abomination.
This is just the Nazi Olympics of the New Millennium.