Has anyone watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing Nest stadium? It’s the most amazing opening ceremony that I’ve ever seen! One of my favourite was “footprints” fireworks “walking” towards the Bird Nest. The arrangement for China National Gymnast LiNing to bear the last torch to light up the Olympic Flame was greatly done by “fly-walking” on top of the Bird Nest with ancient paper rolling as background.

The whole ceremony reminds me about my participation of performance in several national and world events like this when I was young. Beijing Olympics opening ceremony gave me a goose bumps because I was once in their shoes.

Dozens of rehearsals and lots of efforts… I still remember the smell of lunchbox and dinners provided by the authorities, and how many classes have I applied for absence in school. I am glad that I had those experiences and it make me impulsive when I watch the ceremony. The joy of success in performance just can’t be described in words.

Here are some of the backstage photos during the Olympic opening ceremony from my sis:

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Since I make a post about “Where to watch Olympic opening ceremony in Shanghai“, I received more then 600 unique visitors these 2 days. I also notice a lot of traffic from the States typing the keyword “where to watch Olympic opening online”.

I founded on CCTV.com, they broadcasts the opening ceremony of the games live online. But due to IOC’s broadcasting regulations, only netizens in China mainland and Macau can access videos related to Beijing 2008 Olympic Games via CCTV.com. There are some interesting clips on the page as well. You need to use IE to load the page:

http://www.cctv.com/english/special/opening/02/index.shtml

If you missed the ceremony, here’s also a list of all Internet rights holders. You will find a list of URLs:

http://www.cctv.com/english/20080806/106217.shtml

CCTV schedule for Olympics live events:

http://www.cctv.com/english/20080807/109433.shtml

If you know somewhere to watch online and not listed here, tell us below in the comment form. Thanks!

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The olympic torch relay began its last stretch in Beijing yesterday afternoon, handed over to the first bearer Yang Liwei, the country’s first Astronaut at the landmark Forbidden city, once home of China Emperors!

First torch bearer Yang Liwei – Source:Xinhua

The flame will travel in the host city for three days before the opening ceremony this coming Friday, passing Beijing landmarks including Tian’anmen Square, the egg-shapped National Center, Temple of Heaven and will end at the National Stadium – Bird Nest.

Among the bearers, there are basketball celebrity Yaoming, and famed film director Zhang Yimou.

Basketball celebrity Yao – Source:Xinhua

We have been kept guessing who will be the last torch bearer to light the main Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony!

I don’t think Chairman Mao and Deng Xiaoping would ever imagined this! They would have been delighted!

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2008 is the year China hosts the Olympics. Most of the focuses, so far, have been on spectacular structures (ex. Bird’s Nest & Water Cube) and the extraordinary efforts & investment by the Chinese officials to make the Beijing Olympics successful.

However, let us not forget that the Olympics are a celebration of humanity. The Olympics have witnessed some of human beings’ greatest triumphs and moments. Without a doubt, the Beijing Olympics will feature inspirational moments that will be talked about long after the event. Let’s recap some of the most motivating and emotional Olympic moments:

In 1936, Jesse Owens, an African-American, surprised many when he won 4 gold medals in track and field. The grandson of a slave and son of a sharecropper, Jesse Owens had to endure racial discrimination to represent United States at the Olympics. Hitler had hoped to use the Berlin Olympics to demonstrate Aryan superiority and African inferiority.

Abebe Bikila became the first African to win back-to-back Olympic marathon gold medals in 1960 and 1964. In 1960, he did it running bare-footed. In 1964, he won even though he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and operated on one month before the Tokyo Olympics.

In the 1988 Calgary Olympics, the Jamaican bobsled team made its first debut. Many joked about this team from the tropical nation. The Jamaicans, however, managed to silence their critics and win respect & admiration by finished in 14th place, beating well-established teams like United States, Russia, France and Italy.

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, North and South Korea put aside their differences as their athletes march together as a single nation under a single flag. Even though the relationship between South and North Korea was tense, the spirit of humanity shone through as politics took a backseat at the Olympics.

Gabriela Andersen-Schiess represented Switzerland in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as a marathoner. She staggered into the stadium 20 minutes after Joan Benoit had won the event. Suffering from heat exhaustion, her right leg was stiff and her left arm limp. She limped round the track, waving away medical personnel and occasionally stopping and holding her head. She collapsed across the finished line as the deafening roar from the crowd cheered her on.

I am very sure the Beijing Olympics will add more fantastic stories to this archive of special moments.

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