B?EIJING -- An ecstatic China finally got its Olympic moment Friday night. And if the astonishing opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games lavished grand tribute on Chinese civilization and sought to stir an ancient nation's pride, there was also a message for an uncertain outside world: Do not worry. We mean no harm.
In the nimble cinematic hands of Zhang Yimou, the filmmaker who choreographed the opening ceremony, the politics of harmony were conveyed in a visual extravaganza.
The opening ceremony gave the Communist Party its most uninterrupted, unfiltered chance to reach a global audience estimated at more than 4 billion people. At one point, thousands of large umbrellas were snapped open to reveal the smiling, multicultural faces of children of the global village. Benetton could not have done it better.
For one night, at least, the party succeeded wildly after a week dominated by news of polluted skies and a sweeping security clampdown. Across Beijing, the public rejoiced. People painted red Chinese flags on their cheeks and shouted "Go China!" long after the four-hour ceremony concluded.
Earlier on Friday, Hu was host to world leaders at a luncheon inside the Great Hall of the People.
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"The historic moment we have long awaited is arriving," said Hu during a speech at the luncheon on Friday. "The world has never needed mutual understanding, mutual toleration and mutual cooperation as much as it does today."
The opening ceremony reportedly cost tens of millions of dollars and involved 15,000 performers inside the latticed shell of the city's new National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest. No Olympic opening ceremony is thought to have approached it in cost and scale. The production was filled with signature Chinese touches: the elaborate choreography of dancers on a giant calligraphy scroll; the undulating rows of Chinese characters, with the character for "harmony" illuminated in light; and the use of masses of people, working in unison into a grand spectacle centered on traditional Chinese history, music, dance and art.
"This is a huge gathering for sports lovers, and I am one of them," said the famed composer, Tan Dun, whose score will be played during gold medal ceremonies. "This is a lot more than about China. If we think this is only China's moment, it's a big mistake. It's the moment of the world."
The climactic moment of the evening came during the dramatic ceremony to light the Olympic flame. Li Ning, a former Chinese gold medal winner, was hoisted by thin cables to the stadium's roof with the torch in his hand.
Then, as the cables slowly guided him around the inner rim of the roof, as if he were running, a digital scroll unfurled behind him with images of some of the thousands of other torch bearers who had carried the flame during its journey around the world this spring. It was a mesmerizing sight that culminated with Li igniting a giant torch affixed to the roof.
