2008 Aug 12 Images from the Opening Ceremony
Update: NBC have also published a photo gallery of images from last Friday's Opening Ceremony.
Over at ESWN you can find some amazing images of the ceremony plus some translations of some responses from Chinese bloggers. Shanghaiist has collected some videos of the ceremony as captured by people on the street in various locations and also offer a handy compendium of news reports and initial reactions to the event from media around the world. Chinese blogger Wang Jianshuo has made some interesting observations and explanations about the finer details of the ceremony that you might have missed the first time round. Also, if you thought that really cool shot of the fireworks exploding along the central axis of Beijing was fake - you were right.
Two weeks back we linked to Boston.com's great 24-image gallery of the city of Beijing sprucing itself up for the big event. The same website has now put together an equally impressive gallery of images from last Friday's opening ceremony here - Boston.com: The Big Picture - 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony....
The Guardian has also published a very impressive photo gallery of the event here.
The Wall Street Journal have put together a nice slide show that allows you to easily compare the fashion sense of the various competing countries. They also have an interesting piece about the lengths authorities went to in order to keep the rain away on Friday which can be found over at their great China Journal Blog.
According to ABC (the Australian ABC), somewhere between 393 and 842 million mainland Chinese watched the ceremony on TV with major city's like Beijing and Shanghai reporting that almost 99% of residents were watching the ceremony.
Links and Sources
Boston.com: The Big Picture - 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony....
Wall Street Journal: Fashion Slide Show
Official Beijing 2008 Olympic Site: Opening Ceremony
EWSN: Chinese Internet Reacts To Olympics Opening Ceremony
Guardian: Opening Ceremony Gallery
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Pic of the Week: Cleaning the Cube
The Water Cube gets it's first post Olympic scrub down.
Links and Sources
The Star Daily： 奥林匹克公园要建成5A级景点Pic of the week: Meet Fu Niu Lele the robot
The Fuwa might have won some over with their antics at the beach volleyball and other Olympic events, but seriously, how can they compare to Fu Niu Lele. Lele, the official mascot of the Paralympics, has proved a hit (and broken a few hearts) at terminal 3 with a robotic version of the mascot providing directions to visitors in 12 languages! Beat that Fuwa.
Pic of the Week: A Secure Olympics
The above photo was taken on July 16 and is part of a great 24-image gallery that was published on Boston.com earlier this week. You can view the rest of the gallery at Beijing 2008 Preparations - Three Weeks to Go
Pic of the Week: Fireworks at the Bird's Nest
Most of today's Beijing papers feature large photos of an impressive fireworks display that lit up the Bird's Nest last night. The fireworks, more pictures of which can be found here and here (there's also a rather wobbly video available here), lit up the sky at 8.02pm in what was obviously yet another clue as to what the opening ceremony is going to involve. Earlier this week, pictures of performers taking part in the opening ceremony were also leaked online (see below), although the report is no longer able to be accessed.The Lighter Side of China – Olympic Dreams
As we approach the XXXth Olympiad in London, I am reminded of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the way sports have developed in China over the years.
My earliest “Chinese” sports memories are of the famed Li Ning, the gymnast who collected six medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. I remember an image of him suspended on the rings in what is known as the “Iron Cross” – muscles bulging, straight-faced, determined. As the first Olympiad in which the People’s Republic of China participated, the 1984 Summer Games marked the rise of China’s obsession with the Olympics.
