Beijing Olympics 2008 Opening Ceremony Video

China has opened the Beijing Olympics with a burst of fireworks at a spectacular ceremony that celebrated ancient Chinese history and aimed to draw a line under months of political controversy.

The opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on 8 August 2008. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture.

A rich assembly of ancient Chinese art and culture dominated the ceremony. It opened with the beating of Fou drums for the countdown. Subsequently, a giant scroll was unveiled and became the show's centerpiece. The official song of the 2008 Olympics was performed by Britain's Sarah Brightman and China's Liu Huan, and was titled You and Me.

Former Chinese gymnast Li Ning ignited the cauldron.

An estimated £20 billion has been spent by the host nation to try to show off China's emergence as a world power through these Games. As with the venues and infrastructure, the opening ceremony aspired to be the biggest and the best to date.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, his American counterpart George Bush, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and France president Nicolas Sarkozy were among the dignitaries who watched around 14,000 performers, 9,000 of them soldiers, drum and dance through the ceremony masterminded by Zhang Yimou, director of the film House of Flying Daggers, with cinematic verve.

The entry parade of the competing athletes differed in order from previous Olympic ceremonies, as the national teams did not enter in latin alphabetical order. Instead, teams entered the stadium in order (lowest first) of the number of strokes in their Simplified Chinese character transcriptions. As a result, Australia (normally one of the first teams to enter the stadium) became one of the final teams to arrive, as the first character of the Chinese name of Australia (澳大利亚) has 16 strokes. The Olympic traditions of Greece entering first and the the host nation (China) entering last were still observed.

Watch the 2008 Beijing olympic opening ceremony video