Last Friday night I was going to watch the movie “P.S. I Love You,” but instead ended up watching the Olympics for several hours. I thought I would just watch the first few minutes of the Opening Ceremony, but once it got started, I couldn’t look away. The performance was amazing. The Bird’s Nest stadium, amount of people participating, the costumes, routines, singing, dancing, etc., were beyond my wildest imaginations of what the ceremony was going to be like.
I went to the Winter Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was awed by the scale of the operation, the incredible athletes and nationalism the Games inspired in people. But the 2002 Opening Ceremony paled in comparison to what I witnessed on Friday night.
The fact that that many people could do something in unison was compelling, but that they kept doing different things in unison was really mind-blowing. The show somehow exactly embodied what China seems like to me
I look forward to watching much more of the Games, as I am a lover of the Olympics. I am also curious to see what happens after the Olympics are over. This is an interesting time in that what many people see will inform their view of China for years, and possibly even decades, to come.
What did you think of the Opening Ceremony? What effect will the Olympics have on China’s economy and market?
Great entertainment. I do not believe any other nation could have topped this performance. Even the USA could not have put on a better program. Here we have to bring in the big name “Hollywood” types to call it a show. China relied on the common people who rose to an extrordiniry level to give us a wonderful evening. Bravo, China. I wonder if they can top that with the closing ceremony.
If, in hosting the Olympics, China fails to adhere to the highest levels of sportsmanship and fairness, then the message most observers will hear will be “Come to China, the largest, most vibrant opportunity on the planet – and we will spare no effort to cheat you and steal everything you have.”
We are boycotting the Olympic games. We are animal rights activists and are disgusted with the horrible history of China regarding animal rights (not to mention human rights). In preparation for the Olympic games, the city was ‘cleaned’ of its resident dogs and cats. Hundreds of cats a day were rounded up and crammed into cages and hauled away. Then they were trucked to what was described as death camps on the edges of the city – all to ensure that its capital appears clean, green and welcoming during the Olympics.
What a tragedy that helpless animals have to give their life just so we can show off our athletic prowess.
Olympic Opening ceremony was fantastic but how come some of the fire works were not real and no major TV channels commented about fake fire works.
Russia is sabre rattling in Georgia, threatening Poland, our men and women are dying in Iraq and Afghanastan, and I’m suppose to care who wins a sporting event in a Communist country ? The Olympics are second only to Politics for corruption. Any event that is decided on points ( gymnastics, figure skating, boxing ,etc.) we are sure to lose. The winner of a race is there for all to see, and they can’t cheat us there.China is guilty of suppressing every Democratic advancement, and here we are hobnobbing with them, while human rights are being trampled not many miles from the Olympiad. Soon the charges of drug abuse by the Athletes will abound and medals will be returned. Why should anyone waste their time. Ban the Olympics till men really understand the meaning of sportsmanship…..