Global media hails Beijing's perfect night

By Chen Di (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-08-09 22:25

Fireworks light up the National Stadium in Beijing during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 8, 2008. [Agencies]

It's time of joy, and it's time of world unity.

When China's first Olympics kicked off on August 8, 2008, we saw the country's profund civilization and importance of harmony celebrated at the opening ceremony. Media around the world lavished with praise on it and here is an excerpt:

The most certain victory of the Olympic Games was duly ratified on Friday when China won the gold medal in the opening ceremony competition – presumably for all time.

About 2.3 billion television viewers are tuning in for the start of China's first Olympics, more than the record 1.3 billion that watched the 2006 soccer World Cup final in Berlin, according to MindShare, a unit of WPP Group Plc.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on August 8, 2008 that the ceremony represented "a historic moment,'' while International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the Olympics " will help both the world to understand China better and maybe for China to understand the world better.''

An eight became a perfect 10 in Beijing tonight [August 8,2008].

The world may never witness a ceremony of the magnitude and ingenuity as that which opens the 2008 Olympics at the National Stadium in Beijing - affectionately dubbed the Bird's Nest.

The games, said IOC President Jacques Rogge, "are a chance for the rest of the world to discover what China really is."

It was a stunning beginning for the nation of 1.3 billion people. Media observers said they believe the opening ceremony will be the single most watched television event in history.

With world leaders watching from inside the latticed shell of the National Stadium, the 2008 Beijing Olympics began with an opening ceremony of soaring fireworks, amazing spectacle and a celebration of Chinese culture and international goodwill.

The crowd, wet with sweat and tears, gathered in front of the biggest outdoor screen in Beijing, to scream, cheer and cry as a seven-year dream finally came to flawless fruition.