Beijing, August 08: Belying umpteen doomsday predictions, Beijing shimmered in a breathtaking display of fireworks, colour and cultural soiree staging a perfect opening ceremony of the Olympic Games at the Bird's Nest stadium here tonight.

A veritable architectural wonder of interwoven steel, the national stadium on the outskirts of the Chinese capital witnessed an ethereal ceremony studded with a heady concoction of tradition and technology and a dazzling display of a combination of man and machine.

The three-and-a-half-hour show, witnessed by a capacity crowd of 91,000 people here and over one billion viewers watching it on television, kicked off right at 2000 hrs local time.

the choice of date 08-08-2008 at 8 pm stems from the Chinese belief that number eight is auspicious for them.

China has invested USD 43 billion on the Games, including 100 million dollars on the opening and closing ceremonies, twice the money expended at the 2004 Athens Games, promising to host the best ever Olympic Games over the next fortnight.

Talks of human rights violation, pollution or the veil of haze hanging over the city seemed mere bagatelle compared to the blockbuster that Beijing produced tonight.

The Indian contingent, led by flag bearer Athens silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, looked every bit proud.

Men were dressed in off-white sherwanis while women mixed and matched, some draped in the traditional sarees and some others in western outfits.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, in purple silk saree with golden border, waved at the Indian athletes with a broad smile.

Sonia was accompanied by her MP son Rahul, daughter Priyanka, son-in-law Robert Vadhra and a grandson and a grand daughter, along with Sports Minister MS Gill, who appeared impressed by the proceedings.

US President George W Bush and fellow movers and shakers of the world and commoners stood alike in awe as decks were cleared for a no-holds-barred battle among more than 10,500 athletes in 302 medal events over the next 16 days of fierce competition.

The ceremony began with the beating of the ancient Chinese drum fou, followed by the display of Olympic rings and the Chinese national flag, as some 15,000 performers and thousands of fireworks gave the Games a sparkling start.

Artistic performance formed the core part of the ceremony, projecting China's age-old civilisation and it's splendid modern face and it was followed by the theme song sung by China's Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman from Britain.

The post-performance part of the ceremony comprised various Olympic rituals and traditions, including a declaration from Chinese President Hu Jintao opening the Games and a two-hour long parade of athletes.

The huge stadium resembled a cauldron with a riot of colours as mind-blowing fireworks illuminated Beijing skyline.

Around 15,000 performers put up one of the most memorable shows ever.

Delegations from 205 national and regional Olympic committees entered the stadium according to the order of the simplified Chinese characters.

As is the custom, Greece was the first country in the march past and China, the hosts, came last.

In between, 203 contingents passed, trying to outshine each other.

With some 80 heads of states, including Bush, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and South Korean President Lee MyungBak, present at the extravagant show, it was staged under a thick security blanket.

More than 110,000 security personnel were patrolling the Chinese capital where anti-missile barriers have been erected for the Bird's Nest stadium, the most expensive in Olympic history.

The Games are expected to turn the global spotlight on the remarkable rise of China from a poverty-ridden and isolated nation to that of a emerging modern power as much as on the razzle-dazzle and its history of 5,000 years.

Earlier, under the hazy skies, the final hours of the Olympic torch relay started in the morning at Zhoukoudian, a UNESCO heritage site in southwestern suburb, which has yielded many archaeological discoveries, including the remains of early human relative Peking Man dating to between 250,000 and 450,000 years.

Weather has remained a big concern for the organisers but the Beijing Meteorological Bureau says heat and humidity will recede after the Chinese lunar-calendar autumn began yesterday.

Four satellites are taking cloud images every 15 minutes, while 186 automated weather stations around the city gathering data every five minutes.

Seven fixed Doppler radar stations and two mobile radar stations are also deployed.

Slipshod India cuts sorry figure in Olympic opening ceremony: A slipshod India cut a sorry figure in the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony with the female members of the contingent making it a veritable go-as-you-like with their contrasting outfits that made them look completely misfit for the occasion.

With Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore carrying the tri-colour, the contingent looked good from far, as the male members decked out in off-white sherwanis.

But as they came closer, things looked hardly impressive.

The tennis duo of Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao, attired in black trousers and practice jackets, looked completely out of sorts and the contrast was even more jarring to the eyes as going side by side was Delhi paddler Neha Aggarwal who chose a greenish saree for the occasion.

Though the generous crowd at the Bird's Nest stadium roared to greet the Indians, it was a shoddy fashion statement by the Indians.

Comment