Opening Ceremony of Olympic 2008

1. Pre-ceremony Performance

1.1 The pre-show is performed both south and north of the National Stadium and on the tracks.

1.2 Several national celebrities demonstrate and train the audience in an energetic and lively manner on the interactive elements in the ceremony.

1.3 Animation video assists the training

1.4 2008-member Fou Band enters from four gates, standing in a rectangular formation on the east and west sides of the field with a 22-meter wide passageway in the middle. The Fou is an ancient Chinese percussion instrument either made of bronze or ceramic.

1.5 The 224-member Chorus dressed in 56 traditional Chinese ethnic costumes start to enter on both sides of the Chinese national flagpole. A child enters and stands in front of the flagpole.

1.6 The 201-member Military Band enters and stands at the north of the Stadium.

2. The Arrival of the Chinese President and the President of the IOC

The President of the People's Republic of China and the IOC President enter the Presidential Box.

At the north of the Stadium, the Military Band plays welcome music.

3. Countdown

In the last 10 seconds, the percussion rhythm of the "Fou Formation" is as intense as the roar of thunder. Chinese and Arabic numerals flash on the surfaces of the Fou successively, in tune with the rhythm ... 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

3.1 A dazzling light activates an ancient sundial.

3.2 The sundial reflects light onto the "Fou."

3.3 Fou are ancient Chinese percussion instruments made of clay or bronze. In as early as the Xia and Shang dynasties, Fou were used in song and dance performances.

3.4 The rhythmic beating of the instruments coincides with the lights to convey the concept of "time."

4. Welcome fireworks

Splendid fireworks burst from the Stadium's exterior trusses, making the entire Stadium like a blossoming flower.

5. Welcome

The sound of the Fou is thunderous and the chant is roaring. Two-thousand-and-eight performers beat the Fou and sing to welcome friends from all over the world. The exciting percussion performance starts to create a rolling, thunderous welcome.

5.1 The 2,008 Fou and their 2,008 musicians symbolize the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

5.2 "Friends have come from afar, how happy we are." This is a well-known saying of Confucius. Two-thousand-and-eight performers beat the Fou and sing to welcome friends from all over the world.

Confucius (551 BC-479 BC) was a famous educator and philosopher in ancient China. His thoughts deeply influenced later generations.

6. Footprints of History

Twenty-nine colossal burning footprints symbolize 29 Olympiads.

6.1 Twenty-nine colossal footprints rise to the sky in a series of fireworks. At a rate of one "footprint" per second, 29 of them march along Beijing's central axis from Tian'anmen Square all the way to the Olympic Green and the National Stadium, symbolizing the path of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad and their arrival.

6.2 The footprints consist of fireworks, representing the invention of gunpowder, one of the four great inventions in ancient China.

7. Olympic Rings

The footprints change into clusters of falling stars, which gather to form the Olympic rings.

7.1 The "footprints" pass through Tian'anmen Square and head north, with the last "footprint" exploding over the National Stadium, showering the Olympic venue with clusters of falling stars, which gather to form the five Olympic rings.

7.2 Twenty graceful fairies float towards the ground and cluster around the Olympic rings, manifesting beauty and romance. Their costumes glow with light.

8. Entry of the Chinese National Flag

Eight flag bearers carry the flag into the Stadium horizontally and solemnly display the Chinese national flag. A child sings A Hymn to My Country.

Fifty-six children representing each of the 56 Chinese ethnic groups cluster around the Chinese national flag.

9. Raising the National Flag and Singing the National Anthem

The flag guards raise the national flag of the People's Republic of China. A 224-member chorus sings the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.

The national anthem chorus consists of performers from 56 Chinese ethnic groups.

10. Art Performance “Beautiful Olympic ”-Prelude

Synopsis: The video screens in the stadium play a short film before the art performance.

The short film artistically describes the process of a Chinese scroll painting from papermaking and the four treasures of the study to coloring, mounting the painting and affixing scrolls and indicates the over- all aesthetic style of the art performance.

11. Painting Scroll

Synopsis: The “painting scroll” shows the origin and development of China’s history and culture.

11.1 A Chinese painting scroll opens in the center of the stadium and serves as the stage for the evening's performances.

11.2 A blank canvas is placed in the center of the painting scroll. Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China.

11.3 A stream of cultural icons in China's historical advancement flows onto the painting scroll, including porcelain pottery and bronze vessels.

11.4 The Guqin (ancient stringed instrument) used in the performance was created more than 1,000 years ago and is nicknamed the "Sounds of Utmost Antiquity."

11.5 The unique body language of the performers contains the charm of Chinese ink and wash painting. The night's performances are kicked off with the black and white tone of Chinese ink and wash painting.

11.6 The performers draw numerous "lucky" clouds on the paper. The clouds dissipate magically, leaving only the mountains, rivers and the sun.

11.7 On the ground is the famous ancient Chinese painting "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains."

12. Writing

Synopsis: Chinese characters are one of the oldest scripts in the world, which represent the long-standing history of Chinese civilization.

12.1 Here are the “three thousand disciples ” of Con-fucius. Performers are chanting the much quoted lines of Lunyu (the Analects) - “All those within the four seas can be considered his brothers.”

12.2 The disciples are holding bamboo slips. They are a kind of books with scripts carved on the stringed bamboo slices.

12.3 A performance of movable-type printing, one of the four great inventions of ancient China.

12.4 The movable-type printing performance creates images of both ancient and modern fonts of the Chinese character.

12.5 This is an ancient representation of the Chinese character "He," which means harmony.

12.6 This is another ancient representation of the Chinese character "He."

12.7 This is a modern representation of the Chinese character "He." All three character representations show not only the evolution of Chinese characters, but also the Confucian idea of humanism, that is, "Harmony is precious."

12.8 The Great Wall is demonstrated by smooth lines, both concise and vivid.

12.9 A sea of peach blossoms romantically demonstrates the good wishes of the peace-loving Chinese people.

12.10 All 897 performers have trained for more than 10 months. Each person has a unique movement sequence, which can be accomplished only with a good memory and diligent practice.

13. Opera

13.1 This is the percussion performance of traditional Peking Opera of China.As China has a vast territory with people speaking numerous dialects, hundreds of traditional operas have been derived.

13.2 This operatic percussion performance depicts a festive scene of terracotta soldiers' triumphant return.

14. Silk Road

14.1 The performers advance, carrying a canvas. On the ground is the map of the "Silk Road" and the cultural symbols along the road.

14.2 The Silk Road, well known far and near, existed more than 2,000 years ago, when trade caravans of China set out from Chang'an (today's Xi'an of Shaanxi Province) with expensive silk, crossed the Hexi Corridor and entered the European continent. Hence, the Silk Road became an important passage for economic and cultural exchanges between China and Western countries.

14.3 The "Maritime Silk Route" shows the grandeur of Zheng He's voyage to the West.

14.4 More than 600 years ago, under the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He led seven shipping fleets with 27,000 people on board on a long voyage starting from Quanzhou of China and arrived in Western Asia and Eastern Africa, thus creating the well-known "Maritime Silk Route."

14.5 The performer holds an ancient compass, one of the four great inventions of ancient China, in his hand.

15. Music

15.1 The actor is singing Kunqu, which is an ancient and traditional art form that has entered the world list of intangible cultural heritage.

15.2 On the ground are five of China's most famous paintings, finished respectively in the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

16. Starlight

16.1 Renowned pianist Lang Lang and a young child, five-year-old Li Muzi, play a romantic tune together, welcoming a brand-new age. Li began studying the piano at the age of 4.

16.2 The ancient paintings extend in the endless starlight, indicating the more splendid age of today.

16.3 The color tone for the modern performance turns from black and white to bright colors.

16.4 One thousand performers build a "bird's nest," towards which a lovely kite flies from the sky.

17. Nature

17.1 Taijiquan is the most representative forms of shadow boxing in Chinese martial arts, characterized by the "combination of the dynamic and static and the interdependence of hardness and softness."

17.2 The multimedia performance demonstrates the ancient traditional philosophical concept in Chinese martial arts: the relationship between man and nature.

17.3 "The torrent dropping three thousand feet/Straight down to the valley floor/I think it must be the Milky Way/Spilling to the earth from the heavens." The poetic flavor of the famous lines by Li Bai, a poet during the Tang Dynasty, is expressed in a performance.

17.4 The Eight Diagrams of Taiji symbolize eight natural phenomena that bring out changes in all things on earth and include heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain and lake.

17.5 A total of 2,008 Taiji performers form a circle, which means grandness and consummation in the traditional Chinese concept. The present array is called "Round Heaven and Square Earth."

17.6 The children are coloring the ancient Chinese paintings of nature green, expressing the idea of environmental protection which is also the key concept of Taiji -- unity of man and nature.