by Marilyn De Angelis Pennell

Created on: August 09, 2008

Bravo Beijing: 2008: Breathtaking, Beautiful, the Best

Beijing is the best Opening Ceremonies of the summer Olympics. It is 8/008, a day and time chosen for good fortune in the Chinese calendar. And good fortune it is as the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 games connect this ancient culture to the modern world.

As the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics unfold, the whole world is watching. Can China really do it? Will the games begin without protests and smog? How will the world respond to this $300 million production with a cast of 15,000 individual performers directed by China's most revered film director?

From the opening performance by a cast of 2,008 young drummers, to the 55 children of China's ethnic minorities who carried the huge Chinese flag into the stadium to the dancers dressed in black tunics who artfully painted calligraphy on center stage with their bodies and the symmetrical array of white outfitted Kung Fu artists, these opening ceremonies are both sublime and spectacular. 91,000 spectators are on hand to witness this historical moment, for China and the world.

China's Coming Out Party

The pageantry is full of surprises, both large and small: undulating blue waves projected onto a screen surrounding the "bird's nest" stadium and a huge globe with performers walking to its top, seemingly defying gravity; a perfectly choreographed human light show signaling a message of hope and peace; and traditional Chinese arts woven into a seamless tapestry. Each moment gives a look at China's past and a glimpse of its future. A huge white dove of peace created by the performers is a symbol for the athletes and the world.

This is China's "coming out party" and after seven long years of planning and billions of dollars, these ceremonies have gone off without a hitch. As NBC anchor Bob Costas said so well, "this is a stunning, stunning achievement."

One World, One Dream

The opening ceremonies are a always a really, really big show but they are also a symbol of how the host nation views itself and what it wants to project to the world community. China has come a very long way since it returned to Olympic competition in 1984. Since then, this vast land of one billion plus people has produced athletic delegations that have managed to win 286 medals. As its leaders proclaim, China has dreamed of hosting the Olympics for 100 years. But these games have had more than their share of controversy

Early on, the violence in Tibet, the problems with dissidents, the

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