CHINA> Beijing Olympics Highlights
Beijing Olympic Games opens at 08/08/08/08
By Raymond Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-08-08 20:08

The Silk Road

The Silk Road starts from Chang'an, now known as Xi'an, and goes all the way to Europe. It is a trade route that connects East and West Asia, central to cultural dissemination by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years. The development of the great civilizations -- of not only China, but Egypt, Persia, Arabia, India, Rome and Byzantium -- were made possible by this route.

Beijing Olympic Games opens at 08/08/08/08
Performers take part in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium, August 8, 2008. [Agencies] 

Zheng He's seven expeditions were, in a sense, a Silk Road on the sea. It made use of the compass, another great invention from ancient China.

This number begins with the music set for Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei’s immortal lines of farewell. It is about parting, about leaving for a foreign land, for the unknown, and ultimately about the connection of cultures, and the shrinking of our world. The solo dancer is first a flying celestial nymph from the Dunhuang Grotto, an indelible image on the Silk Road, and later changes to one of Zheng He.

The real attraction, however, is the long oars, which turn sailing into a dream of formations.

Music

This echoes the "Scrol" number, with five of China's best classic paintings as an evolving backdrop. The first is Spring Outing, from the Sui and Tang dynasties of 1,300 years ago.

Along the River during Qingming Festival, by Zhang Zeduan, was from the Song Dynasty, about 1,000 years ago. It is about a busy street scene in Kaifeng, arguably the biggest metropolis in the world then.

Beijing Olympic Games opens at 08/08/08/08
A dancer performs on a scroll during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 at the National Stadium in Beijing. [Agencies]

From the Yuan Dynasty, 700 years ago, we have a painting of a royal procession.

The Ming Dynasty painting, from some 600 years ago, depicts sports of the time, including arrow shooting and polo playing.

The last painting was commissioned in celebration of Emperor Qianlong's (1711-1799AD) 80th birthday. It recreates the imperial party and its grandeur.

On top of the paintings are shown performing arts classics, such as the dance Moon Reflected in a Spring River, and Kunqu, China's oldest known opera. The majesty of the number reaches its zenith when 32 columns, each 2m in diameter and weighing 1.2 ton, ascend skyward and each shoots out a girl in full imperial regalia.

This number is about the good old days, the golden era in Chinese history, the times of singing and dancing, of painting and partying. It's about rituals and self-confidence. In a sense, it is about the ancient equivalent of the Olympics. It has a feel-good quality that infuses one with pride for the deep roots of Chinese civilization.