Magic, Made In China

At a time and date considered auspicious, China began perhaps the most keenly watched Olympic Games in history.

At a time and date considered auspicious, China began perhaps the most keenly watched Olympic Games in history. At a propitious confluence of 8s, traditionally considered so favourable, at 8 pm on 8.8.08, the opening ceremony began, condensing in an hour five thousand years of Chinese civilization in a spectacular feat of symbolism and historical sweep.

With unprecedented attendance by world leaders — including Sonia Gandhi, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush — one of China’s most well-known filmmakers, Zhang Yimou, artistic director of the opening ceremony, used a contemporary aesthetic to harness the epic scale of Chinese dance drama, adding to its grandeur precision and synchronization.

Integrating fireworks (by the official estimate, 20,000 of them, some zooming back into the packed Bird’s Nest, others lighting up the wider Beijing sky and some reflecting the festivities at the Great Wall) and multimedia to create optical illusions, he reached back to the Xia dynasty, circa 2000 BC, using the traditional Chinese scroll to show the passage of time.

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The two aspects of the message were conveyed by the titles of the two halfs of the opening ceremony: brilliant civilization and glorious era.

Together, they reflected the assertions China is making with these Games: its confidence to come out as a dazzling and self-confident participant in global celebrations, and its keenness to be more integrated in international institutions.

The nationalist message in all this was carefully kept subtle. National pride reached back into the past, the present was given to internationalisation.

And scrolls and fireworks were used to assert China’s discovery of paper-making and gunpowder.

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And once the athletes had marched past — the Americans having the pleasure of their president’s cheering presence for the first time in an Olympics not hosted by them — the spectacle continued. Word of the scale and impressiveness of the opening ceremony had leaked out after dress rehearsals, but the big mystery remained. How would the Olympic cauldron be lit, and who would do the honours?

It could not have been more ambitious and enthralling. Gymnast Li Ning, winner of three medals at the 1984 Olympics, appeared to race around the top of the stadium before lighting the cauldron that had come up almost unnoticed amidst the fireworks above and pageantry below.

But the ceremony was not only given over to Chinese national pride. As the 10,000 athletes marched in, the roar of the crowds showed how much the composition of squads has changed. The record-breaking athlete has been overshadowed by the big-game star: so there were football giants Brazil and Argentina inviting roars from the 90,000 spectators, little Switzerland appearing curiously popular till Roger Federer’s face came up on the big screen a few seconds later, and just the sight of Kobe Bryant setting the crowd hysterical.

So, even as the security helicopters criss-crossed overhead, the Beijing skies having been cleared of all commercial flights for the duration of the ceremony, China left the world with subtle messages that will be decoded for some time to come.