2008 Beijing Olympics

I could not locate a thread on the Olympics and feel one would be fit!


Has anyone seen the opening ceremony? Absolutely beautiful in every way possible. First thing in a long time that has brought a tear to my eye.


The sheer beauty and magnitude of everything really leaves me feeling nostalgic!

While i'm not very supportive of China's policies, this is by all means the most beautiful Olympic display ever!


Kudos to China!

Not bothering with the sham at all.

The IOC is one of the biggest collection of scum ever. Salt lake City? Sure bribe your way into it. I have no doubt that China did the same. The fact that the games for humanity rolls over for and ignores the brutal repression in tibet, deportation of people who dare question the regime not that far removed from Mao, denila of press credentials, censorship of the net etc, had paramilitary thugs "guarding" the torch etc etc etc.

For me? No thanks, NBC can choke on the 1 billion they spent on the TV rights

i think it was being dragged too long,3 hours! people can die in that summer heat that long,feel pity for those who were there.

and this morning,right after i was out on the street,i found two old candian couples lost their way to beijing expo hall,the place where olympic pins can be exchanged by the people from around the world)i was glad that i helped them find their way.glad to be helpful during the olympics.

As I am partly Greek I have to embrace my country's adorable characteristics of resentment and bitterness.
For a country with a smaller population that the NYC area, I think we did better.
We had Tiesto DJing the walk of nations thingie. How cool is that?
Not for nothing, I hope the Chinese don't build weapons as well as build firewoks. That part was pretty good.
Go Greece.

The opening ceremony was great for the hour or so I watched. It's funny that they brought religion into it, or at least thats what the two puppets from NBC implied in regards to Daoist, Confucionist and Buddhist influences in the ceremony.

chinese people now are very happy with this government ,check the poll on that issue.china is developing so fast and people's living standard has been pushing up greatly every single year.that is what we care the most.

I am an Olympic junkie. I usually abhor the opening ceremony. Italy's was abominable, and Greece's was ok. China's opening ceremony, however, was spectacular. It was like watching 100 Jackie Chan's pulling all his greatest stunts.

I felt sorry for those poor Chinese girls that were doing the clapping and kicking on the edge of the infield. They had to be exhausted.

I cannot believe how extraordinarily spectacular the opening was.

I really am looking forward to the international competition. Of course, i will cheer on the USA. But there are so many other, smaller nations that I would LOVE to see do well.



[edit on 8-8-2008 by bigfatfurrytexan]

What i didnt find fair was that tawain wasnt able to use their countries name or flag cuz of chinese policy issues. I wonder what goes on there. And they couldnt do it live cuz there were many protesters so they wanted to edit the film so they wouldnt look bad. I loved the opening though and it was kinda funny when Iraq was getting cheered on loudly then Iran came and they booed. But i did feel bad

it was live on tv,and if any foreigners want make it political,i really worry for their safety ,not because of the chinese government,but because of chinese people ,national pride is running high so is the anti west sentiment before the olympics among young chinese people,so got to be careful before you make stupid moves.

I think this may have been the first opening ceremony since the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo that I've sat through from beginning to end. When it started, I though about running down to the pub to catch it on the big screen, but not even the promise of cold draft beer could shift me. That's saying a LOT.

I was particularly impressed by the choice of Li Ning to light the torch - an excellent choice, all things considered. Sent a strong message (that was not lost on the Japanese media, at least).

Originally posted by Immortal_Roses
What i didnt find fair was that tawain wasnt able to use their countries name or flag cuz of chinese policy issues. I wonder what goes on there. And they couldnt do it live cuz there were many protesters so they wanted to edit the film so they wouldnt look bad. I loved the opening though and it was kinda funny when Iraq was getting cheered on loudly then Iran came and they booed. But i did feel bad

That's an odd comment.

I watched it live last night, and saw no protesters. I also didn't hear any boos for Iran. Heard some for Bush, though.

but from most chinese people's feedback and the posts on chinese forums shows people are not satisfied with this openning to say the least,very dissappointed if you may.

Originally posted by haidian
but from most chinese people's feedback and the posts on chinese forums shows people are not satisfied with this openning to say the least,very dissappointed if you may.

Well you can blame the rulers for that? Buck stops here? I dunno what they are talking about. It was a beautiful show.

Originally posted by vox2442

Originally posted by Immortal_Roses
What i didnt find fair was that tawain wasnt able to use their countries name or flag cuz of chinese policy issues. I wonder what goes on there. And they couldnt do it live cuz there were many protesters so they wanted to edit the film so they wouldnt look bad. I loved the opening though and it was kinda funny when Iraq was getting cheered on loudly then Iran came and they booed. But i did feel bad

That's an odd comment.

I watched it live last night, and saw no protesters. I also didn't hear any boos for Iran. Heard some for Bush, though.

I didnt watch it live cuz they are a day ahead of me....When he was being was that when USA cam out? I didnt watch it all

Originally posted by AndrewTB

Absolutely beautiful in every way possible. First thing in a long time that has brought a tear to my eye.


The sheer beauty and magnitude of everything really leaves me feeling nostalgic!

Kudos to China!

I couldn't agree with you more. The opening was the best that I've ever seen. The precision choreography and the human presence as opposed to computer controlled everything was truly impressive.
The lighting, the fireworks and the music.

While I do agree with you about their internal policies, all I can say is wow and a perfect 10 for presentation.

I left the politics at the door, and sat down and enjoyed my first opening ceremony in HD. I watched with the idea that it wasn't the participants or the athletes fault the world is in the mess that it's in, and I was amazed.

I was touched by the beauty of the human race, and proud to be among them.

As I looked upon the children of the world, I was humbled.

IMHO this opening ceremony may have been mankind's most incredible production to date.

In some respects, I guess everyone sees what they want to in life. I chose to enjoy the best of it. The wonderful spirit of the people on this planet.

If the other beings in the Universe were watching, and I think they were, TOP THAT!

I have had such a bitter taste in my mouth about these Olympic games. And I am usually a die hard watcher of them. I have been scoffing at it all, only because they are in China and all the issues surrounding China.

However, last night I did watch some of the opening ceremonies and the walk of nations. Which is actually my favorite part of the ceremonies, because there are so many countries I learn exist that I never knew about before. And usually the commentators give some facts about these countries - which I love to learn.

As a performing artist, I thought it was an incredible show. Absolutely incredible. And yes, those poor girls. By the end they were barely moving. But still had smiles on their faces!

And the little boy with Yao Ming was soooo flippn cute!!!

But after saying all of that, at the same time it was hard to watch knowing what is going on in Georgia/Russia. Every time they showed Bush and Putin you could just see the look on their face that they had somewhere else they needed to be.

Overall, I have to support my US athletes as the summer games have my favorite sports in it and I too hope some of the smaller unknown nations can obtain some medals!!


Oh and to...schrodingers dog: That was Tiesto doing the walk of nations? I had no idea! I am a huge fan of his!

Originally posted by vox2442

Originally posted by Immortal_Roses
I loved the opening though and it was kinda funny when Iraq was getting cheered on loudly then Iran came and they booed. But i did feel bad

That's an odd comment.

I watched it live last night, and saw no protesters. I also didn't hear any boos for Iran. Heard some for Bush, though.

I actually heard Iran booed - loudly. It was to me, obvious. *shrug*

Originally posted by haidian
chinese people now are very happy with this government ,check the poll on that issue.china is developing so fast and people's living standard has been pushing up greatly every single year.that is what we care the most.

Did you see what happened to the torch runners? From my understanding, it is only the people in the populated areas who are embracing the Olympics, and there are a lot of people unhappy with their government's oppression. On BBC reporters were taken to prison and interrogated for two days for simply allowing the people who were against their government to be interviewed. The Chinese government is far from loved, you can't take a poll when there is fear. You can feel national pride without supporting your government.

Anyhow, the Olympics are great so far, my favorites that I can remember were the 2000 in Sydney, but these are shaping up to be just as good.

the ceremony was based on 4 great chinese inventions,paper.printing,compass and gunpowder.chinese people have been always proud of these thing.historians say because of the invention of paper,knowledge,ideas,history..could be easily and cheaply recorded,that was a major boost for human civilization.like today's internet,informations could be easily spread around. and printing had the same asset,mass production of book were made possible with the invention of printing.books are the most valuble treasure of mankind.

compass later on helped sailors and adventurers go and explore uncharted land and see,lead to the dicovery of the new continents.

gunpowder,i dont know much credit about this one,maybe made killing people and animals more efficient,this one i m not specially fond of.

i m very surprised that you guy really enjoy the show,cause i think without knowledge on chinese history,culture and arts.it is very difficult for foreigners to know what is going on there.