China welcomed the world to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on Friday with the roll of thunder from two thousand FOU drums and a battering of fireworks across the Chinese capital -- from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square to the National Stadium, popularly known as the Bird’s Nest.

Fourteen thousand performers offered the 91,000 people in the Bird’s Nest, a history lesson in China's contribution to world civilization. The spectators that packed the stadium held the first of some seven million tickets to the 2008 Beijing Games, in which nearly 11,000 athletes will jump, run, cycle, fight, swim, sail, ride and shoot their way to Olympic glory.

The opening ceremony began at 8:00 pm (1200 GMT). To begin, 29 huge firework displays were shot up into the air across the four axis of the ancient capital: the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, and just above the Bird’s Nest. The impressive firework display was intended to remind viewers of China's legacy as the civilization that invented gunpowder, first used in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1276 AD).

As the firework footprints reached the Bird's Nest they illuminated the Olympic Rings in the stadium bringing a resounding round of applause from the audience.
 
The four-hour show celebrated some of China's greatest inventions -- the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing -- as well its ancient art and the magnificence of the Great Wall.

It concluded with a focus on unity in the modern world, with the final moments seeing performers on a giant elevated globe and a theme song entitled "You and Me".

After Chinese President Hu Jintao officially declared the Games open, Li Ning -- a famous Chinese gymnast who won three golds at the 1984 Games lit the cauldron. In a dramatic moment, Li was lifted on wires and then "ran" around the roof of the stadium holding the Olympic torch.

The Ceremony ended with another magnificent fireworks display staged by a total of 600 engineers from hundreds of locations around the city, some as far away as the Great Wall of China.

Opening on 8th day of the 8th month of 2008, the 18-day-long Olympic Games will take place in 37 different venues, and will award a grand total of 302 Olympic medals to the winning athletes.

China National Convention Center (CNCC), located in the heart of the Olympic Green is just next to the Bird’s Nest. It’s proudly serving the Games as the International Broadcast Center (IBC), Main Press Center (MPC) and the site for fencing.

(The Bird’s Nest )


(The Opening Ceremony)


(The Olympic rings are pictured)


(An Olympic-ring light show glows amidst a background of color)


(Taiji performance of the opening ceremony)


(Acrobats perform the Bird's Nest)


(Former Chinese gymnastics star Li Ning carries the Olympic flame)


(Fireworks go off after the torch is lit)

 
(CNCC is serving the Olympics as the IBC, MPC and fencing hall)


(Olympic Green)


(IBC serves some 16,000 broadcast and television media)


(5,600 accredited journalists are working at MPC)

For further information contact:
Tony Xu, Director of Business Development
Office Telephone: +86 10 6499 1850
Mobile Telephone: + 86 1390 102 3052
Fax Number: +86 10 8497 2333
Email Address:  tonyxu@cnccchina.com
Website: www.cnccchina.com