$42m for the Games opening ceremony

With the London Olympics dubbed an austerity event and with the UK in its worst double-dip recession in 50 years the budget for the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games, which kicked off on Friday evening, was about 27 million pounds ($42.45 million), a much smaller sum than China spent on the spectacular event in Beijing four years ago.

The biggest challenge for Danny Boyle, director of the event, was to make a show that would appeal both to a British audience and the expected billion or more viewers across the world. Boyle said last month that he knew he wouldn't be able to please everyone with the show, but he and his team tried very hard not to fail, according to The Wall Street Journal. Boyle is an Oscar-winning director for his film Slumdog Millionaire.

PM2DIAN5: Does anybody know how much the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony cost?

RCJ_MOMENT_IN_PEKING: I didn't think that the UK government could budget 27 million pounds for the opening ceremony previously. It seems I underestimated them.

DASHAN-CN: I think we should learn from the UK that it doesn't spend taxpayers' money recklessly.

MEIYUQIQI: The UK's idea of holding an event with a limited budget is quite different from China because what the 2008 Beijing Olympics wanted to achieve was to demonstrate an unprecedented sporting event to the whole world. Money was never a problem for the show.

QINGLUANDIANJIANGYING: I love British culture but I still chose to watch the rebroadcasting of the opening ceremony because the live broadcast of the show was at 4 am Beijing time.

COMMERCIALPROPERTY-HOPSCA: Is it true that the opening ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics cost a total of $15 billion?

DAJIAOGUAISHUSHU: I don't know the answer to this question: Does the budget figure for the London Olympics opening ceremony bring shame on the UK government or cause the Chinese government to lose face?

JIAYUANDEWEIBO: It is challenging to hold a magnificent event with a limited budget because it requires a clever approach.

All the information is from Sina Weibo.