China opened the Olympics today with a burst of fireworks at a spectacular ceremony that wove ancient Chinese history with modern wizardry and aimed to draw a line under months of political controversy.
Drums thundered, strobe lights flickered and 14,000 performers poured through the Bird's Nest stadium in a dazzling extravaganza that offered up a vision of global harmony in line with the Games' motto "One World One Dream".
The Games were officially declared open by Chinese President Hu Jintao on the eighth day of the eighth month - the number symbolises fortune in China - before an estimated global audience of one billion.
Around 80 world leaders watched the show which celebrated imperial China, and skipped the fraught 20th century, when civil war, the Japanese invasion and hardline Communist rule left the nation mired in poverty.
"Friends have come from afar, how happy we are," an army of 2,008 drummers chanted, quoting the celebrated sage Confucius.
The ceremony caps seven years of work that has reshaped Beijing and sets the seal on an industrial boom that has turned the country into the world's fourth largest economy.
Irish sailing sailor Ciara Peelo (28) carried the tricolour at the opening ceremony. She was among the 204 flag bearers representing each country. The Government was represented by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen.
However, the Olympic spotlight has also cast a harsh glare on the vast Asian nation, bringing the unrest in its Tibetan region to a wide audience and showing that China's leadership is not ready to brook any internal dissent.
Firecrackers launched the ceremony before a series of giant fireworks in the form of footsteps were set off, blasting above the heart of the capital, crossing Tiananmen Square as they progressed to the steel-latticed Bird's Nest.
National pride at the transformation of China has built steadily and the crowd roared its approval when high-stepping soldiers took the nation's red flag from the hands of a group of small children and hoisted it above the stadium.
The Games were due to be formally opened by the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge. They run until August 24th, with 10,500 athletes from a record 204 nations chasing 302 gold medals in 28 sports.
Today's show, directed by local film maker Zhang Yimou, reached its climax before the athletes' parade, when a gigantic sphere representing the earth rose from the floor of the stadium, which filled with twinkling starlight.
Signs flashed up warning of the dangers of global warming. The world's most populous nation has thus far resisted calls to curb its carbon emissions as it concentrates on growth, and its promise to stage a "Green Games" has been belied by the hazy pollution which has clogged Beijing in recent days.
The careful choreography of the ceremony extended well beyond the stadium and 100,000 police fanned out to prevent attacks and protests, while dissidents have been kept out of sight.
The image of the Olympics was tarnished months before the Games when its international torch relay was peppered with violent protests and demonstrations by activists and human rights groups over the crackdown in Tibet.
This prompted senior IOC member Dick Pound this week to reveal many countries had considered boycotting the Games because of the relay disaster and the IOC to review future relays.
While US President George W. Bush said he was coming for sport not politics, he reiterated today "our belief that all people should have the freedom to say what they think and worship as they choose".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a video appeal at the ceremony calling on warring nations to honour a traditional truce during the Games. "I call on all those engaged in hostilities to respect it."
Unfortunately for the Olympic ideal of global harmony, the two Koreas failed to agree to march at the opening as a unified team even though they managed that in 2004 and 2000.
The Games are centred in Beijing, but will stretch more than 2,000-km, with equestrian events in Hong Kong, soccer dotted around the country and yachting in the eastern city of Qingdao.
The sporting action gets into top gear tomorrow with competition underway in 18 disciplines, including swimming and gymnastics, and seven gold medals up for grabs.
Record crowds are expected to cheer on the athletes, with seven million tickets sold guaranteeing capacity audiences - a stark contrast to Athens when some sports played out to empty stands.
But as in 2004, the build up to the Beijing Games has been marred by drug taking. A number of athletes have failed tests in the weeks leading up to the Olympics and officials have promised about 4,500 doping checks in Beijing to root out the cheats.
IN TOMORROW'S IRISH TIMES
Ian O'Riordanlooks ahead to the first day of competition with details of the Irish competitors in action.
Keith Dugganprofiles US swimmer Michael Phelps as he tries to win eight gold medals over the next seven days.
Mary Hanniganembarks on a marathon of her own and watches the entire opening ceremony on the television.
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