An array of colourful costumes and props provide a superb spectacle for the 90,000 ahead of the main event of the sweltering evening After a seven year wait the opening ceremony finally gets underway with 2,008 drummers creating an incredible countdown The first batch of an estimated 20,000 fireworks light up Beijing's night sky with excitement at fever pitch inside the stadium The Chinese flag arrives in the arena and is then raised to loud cheers from the crowd as the opening ceremony hots up Thousands of specks of light make up the Olympic rings on the floor of the arena and are then magically lifted into the sky Artists emerge to symbolise the age of Chinese philosopher Confucius wearing some of the 15,153 striking costumes on offer The ceremony portrays 5,000 years of Chinese history, cleverly highlighting achievements in art, music and science In an incredible display of choreography, grey boxes representing printing blocks from ancient China, morph into different characters The Silk Road that linked China to the west is portrayed using blue-robed oarsmen who use giant paddles to create striking images The breathtaking ceremony leaves spectators in awe as dancers covered in light enter the fray to reflect modernity With the arena floor transformed into a fluorescent mass of colour a solitary Chinese girl is lifted into the sky by her kite The crowd are thrilled as a 16-tonne globe dramatically emerges from the arena with dancers circumnavigating the continents Sarah Brightman and Chinese pop star Liu Huan provide a change of tack as they sing a specially commissioned theme song for the Games The opening section of the memorable ceremony draws to a close with another spectacular fireworks display Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, opens the parade of the 204 competing nations with the team's flag carried by judoka Ilias Iliadis After a lengthy wait, Mark Foster leads the Great Britain team into the stadium while proudly holding aloft the Union Flag The crowd erupts as basketball player Yao Ming leads the host nation into the stadium with tiny Sichuan earthquake survivor Lin Hao Chinese President Hu Jintao declares the Games open shortly before the Olympic flag is raised while the Olympic anthem is sung China's three-times gold medal winning gymnast Li Ning is suspended high in the stadium and will soon light the Olympic flame After running around the entire rim of the Bird's Nest stadium suspended on a wire, Li lights the fuse that ignites the cauldron The assembled athletes gather below the flame that will burn above the Olympic stadium over the next 16 days of Olympic competition Back 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Next



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