<strong>Zhang Yimou</strong> | Creative Director | Opening/Closing Cermonies of the Beijing Olympic Games at Schema : more than ethnic

Zhang Yimou | Creative Director | Opening/Closing Cermonies of the Beijing Olympic Games

Whether you agree or disagree with the Olympics...and whether you agree or disagree with the Olympics being held in Beijing, you might just have to admit that the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing was a breathtaking spectacle. The gala opened at exactly 8pm on the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008, as a tribute to the number 8 which represents prosperity, good fortune, and good luck.

And why not? It took famed filmmaker ZHANG YIMOU three years to create both the opening/closing ceremonies, starting from his initial promise to "complete the task beautifully and successfully." Zhang's films include Raise the Red Lantern, To Live, Not One Less, The Road Home, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and The Curse of the Golden Flower.

The opening ceremonies featured multimedia, visual arts, 22,000 performers and musicians, and 43,000 fireworks exploding at 29 points around the "Bird's Nest" stadium to represent the 29th Olympic Games. The theme of the ceremony reflected China's key inventions to the world -- the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing; the latter showcased by a unfurling electronic scroll on the floor of the stadium which sprang to life with Chinese characters and moveable type. A key moment was when children from 56 ethnic groups carried the Chinese flag while 9-year-old Lin Miaoke (the cutest!) began singing a Sing a Song of Praise to the Motherland.

If you missed it, there's always the closing ceremony. P.S: One of the differences between CBC's Canadian coverage of the Opening Cermonies and NBC's American coverage? --NBC continually panned over to Yao Ming every 5 minutes or so. Hee.

More: via BBC and Xinhuanet | photo credit Xinhuanet