Celebration and anticipation

By Li Hong (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-08-25 16:19

After the 17-day community and competition the theme of the seeing-off party for the world's top athletes was celebration and anticipation.

Thanks to satellites and the ubiquitous Internet, residents all over the globe cheered together to laud the talent and physical prowess of mankind during the "truly exceptional" Games.

The Olympic flag is paraded at the National Stadium also known as the "Bird's Nest" during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 24, 2008. [Agencies]

The world has much to celebrate because during the 17 days our elite athletes displayed awesome sportsmanship, breaking 38 world records, and renewing more than 80 Olympic records, a feat unprecedented in history.

The National Aquatic Center, or "Water Cube", saw 23-year-old American Michael Phelps build up his swimming invincibility by winning eight gold medals and breaking seven records in a single Games. Another iconic landmark, the national stadium, or "Bird's Nest", saw Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt win three golds, breaking three world records in the 100-metre, 200-metre and 4x100metre relay. Russian superstar Elena Isinbayeva also soared over 5.05-metres in pole vault in the stadium.

China has much to celebrate about because for the first time we won 100 medals, leading the gold medal tally with 51. The host country, a vehement sports lover, made steadfast efforts to make the 29th Summer Games a success, with a spectacular opening ceremony rich in Oriental culture and a smooth running of all the games.

The success is all the sweeter for the Chinese so soon after we lost 70,000 of our brothers and sisters in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake which struck Sichuan Province on May 12. The destruction devestated us, but we never lost spirit. Shedding our tears, we held the hands of those who lost loved ones, building makeshift houses for them and at the same time finishing the preparation work for the Olympics.

The achievements at the summer games and the growing volunteerism aroused by the quake and the Games will surely inspire 1.3 billion people to always give a hand to those in need and work ever harder for even greater prosperity.

If anything, the 17-day sports party is more than physical contest, it is exchanging of ideas, melting of misunderstandings, and making of friends. IOC President Jacques Rogge said in his closing speech for the 29th Olympics: "Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world."

Longing for the future, we have much to anticipate.

When an introverted culture mingles with the diversity of the outside "pearls of thinking", who knows what will be discovered? Mr Deng Xiaoping studied in France during his teens when London and Paris were at the height of Industrial Revolution, and those years molded his iron mindset, and decided the ground-breaking epoch of China's "Reform and Opening-up" to the world, which he designed and launched.

Now, tens of thousands of Chinese are studying and researching in other countries, many of them will come back home with many different messages, ideas, techniques, and know-how. Helped by the modern technology and the Internet, China will no longer be let down or isolated. Ushered into the world arena, we must deliver.

After the Games, Beijing is expected to continue its massive infrastructure extension, the central government is expected to give more attention to environmental protection in the midst of chasing continuing rapid economic growth, and China is expected to embrace more fresh ideas from outside. Both acceptance and criticisms will guide China on our road to success.