An artist performs during the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Game, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China, August 8, 2008. [Xinhua]

Opera and dance

Peking Opera is, mercifully, represented by four small puppets. A beautiful woman reprises Zhang Ziyi's unforgettable silk ribbon dance from House of Flying Daggers. I suppose it's OK to ransack your own work.

China's inventions

Sailors carrying giant oars re-enact the voyages of China's great Ming Dynasty navigator, Zheng He. The scroll displays the character for tea, a porcelain vase, and a compass, representing ancient China's contribution to global culture.

Lang Lang

Flamboyant, spiky-haired pianist Lang Lang appears, playing a white grand. He looks like a Liberace whose sequins have been stolen. The set ripples with color, like an octopus trying to attract a mate. Performers fan out from the scroll and eventually form the image of a dove. In close up it looks like they are wearing the stolen sequins, but a colleague informs me they are LEDs.

Nature

A graceful taijiquan performance by women in white. You wouldn't think it was a deadly martial art. Kids with cute colored satchels add a smile to a picture of the sun on the scroll.

One World One Dream

An astronaut floats weightless over the earth. Ringed Saturn floats above. Performers run around the floating globe as if held in its gravity field. How do they do that?

Photo taken on August 8, 2008 shows the shining Olympic rings on a huge LED screen, proclaiming the arrival of the Olympiad, during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, Beijing, capital of China. [Xinhua]

Olympic song

To a background of blue whales projected onto the screens, Sarah Brightman and pony-tailed Liu Han perform the Olympic song You and Me. Sorry, but this pedestrian offering is not going to top the charts.

The pageant ends with pictures of thousands of smiling children. More fireworks as the performers take a bow.

Athletes' procession

The athletes marched through the stadium to Scotland the Brave played by invisible bagpipers. The biggest cheers went to Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong.

Others up there with the crowd were Iraq who got a loud, generous welcome, and Iran, who followed them into the stadium. Whether intended or not, the Iranian girls looked stunning in what looked like Islamic-style flight-attendant outfits.

Paraguay looked ready to burst into tears. There only seemed to be a couple of them. Had they had a row? A big roar for Canada – or was it for China's most famous foreigner Da Shan (Mark Roswell) who was down there marching with his compatriots. France raised a cheer and President Sarkozy stood up looking surprised to be there.

Fashion disasters

Croatia looked like they had run away from the circus. The Polish women tried to smile, dressed in red sacks clearly discovered in a 1950s warehouse. Had Kazakhstan's costumes been designed by the President?

Top marks, though, to the Argentines for the coolest gear, especially the girls in classy, above the knee skirts.

Then it was the Olympic anthem, a seemingly interminable, formless tune. That left just enough time for Li Ning's spectacular torch run, and yet more fireworks, before the clock struck twelve. The end of a fabulous show and, most importantly, it didn't rain!

(China.org.cn August 9, 2008)