Lively Beijing welcomes the Opening Ceremony

By Maverick Chan & Wang Wei

The one-hundred-year Olympic dream of the Chinese people finally comes true on Friday night. The whole of Beijing is excited; people, proud of this world event, look forward to the inspiring evening in different ways.

Few private cars have been seen on the roads since this morning. Yu Yang, a taxi driver, cannot help praising the coming Olympics. The smooth traffic is, in his own words, 'unprecedented'. He says the people in Beijing are all expressing their support for the Olympics in their own ways, and the smooth traffic is a case in point - one of the best ways to show our hospitality in addition to the blue sky.

Yu also speaks highly of the automobile restriction policy during the Olympics. "Fewer cars on the roads make life more convenient for everyone, and also make for a cleaner environment." He expresses the taxi drivers' feeling that stricter measures should be maintained after the Olympics. "Firstly, the Beijing Municipal Government needs to charge a vehicle registry fee to reduce the number of new cars licensed every year; second, the car restriction policy should continue to be in force after the Games, but could be lifted at weekends."

Hours before the Olympic Opening Ceremony, people have been gathering at different public places in a desire to witness the exciting moment together. At the square in front of the Beijing railway station, a 6-year-old girl, holding a Chinese national flag in hand, is waiting for her homebound train. "My mother didn't manage to get a ticket for any of the events", she says. "But I'm happy. I've experienced a lot of the Olympic atmosphere in Beijing in the past few days."

In addition to the excited Chinese people, many foreigners are also arriving in the square. Mateo and his wife Mariel, both from South America, are waiting patiently for the ceremony to begin. "We're living in a hotel here, but we'd rather see the opening ceremony in a public place where we can feel the spirit of the Olympics," says Mateo. Three Britons from Newcastle also join the crowd. They have also chosen to spend the evening in the open with the excited crowd, and they tell me of their high hopes for the British boxing team.