Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Kick Off

BEIJING - With fireworks and fanfare, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games began in the so-called "Bird's Nest" National Stadium in Beijing earlier today with over 91,000 spectators and millions more worldwide watching it on television later this evening.

Although the information could not be found on NBC's Olympic games website, according to USAToday, the opening ceremonies will be broadcast in their entirety here in the United States from 8pm until midnight on NBC. The local NBC affiliate in the Raleigh area is NBC17. According to CNN, the broadcast of the opening ceremonies will most likely be the most watched single television event in history.

The opening ceremonies in Beijing featured music, fireworks, impressive displays of light, dancing, tributes to China's accomplishments and history, and of course, the parade of the Olympic athletes into the stadium. At this time, the opening ceremonies are still underway and the traditional end to the ceremonies, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron to start the Olympic games, had not yet been done. There is still an air of mystery over who will light the cauldron and there is speculation that it will be a survivor of the recent earthquake that devasted parts of China.

According to Xinhua, the national press agency for China, the event began with 2,008 young men playing 2,008 fou musical instruments with LED's, to "flash out" the last seconds of the seven-year countdown to the start of the Olympics.

The opening ceremony also included a successive progression of 29 large fireworks in the shape of footsteps representing past Olympic games from the ancient city gate of Yongdingmen in the southern part of the city to the Bird's Nest stadium in the northern part, said Xinhua.

Xinhua says that five giant Olympic rings made up of shining LED lights were "embraced by "flying fairies" in shining costumes...[and were] lifted in the air before the unbelieving eyes of some 91,000 spectators."

Also present during the ceremony were tributes to China's history including musicial references to Confucius, a tribute to China's invention of movable type, fireworks, China's space program, and more.

Representatives of China's 56 different ethnic groups helped carry in the Chinese national flag as many in the crowd sang the Chinese national anthem.

Over 10,000 athletes from 205 different countries and regions marched into the unique "Bird's Nest" stadium, which included in the audience such dignitaries as Chinese President Hu Jintao, President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge, and President George W. Bush.

Some sports in the Olympic games have already started including women's soccer, but most of the games start in earnest today and will continue over the next 17 days. NBC will be broadcasting coverage of the games across its networks 24 hours a day and will also feature coverage on its website. See links below for TV listings, more pictures, and news links.

ON THE WEB:

::OFFICIAL SITE: Beijing 2008 Olympics
::OPENING CEREMONIES: 11 PAGES OF PHOTOS: Xinhua
::OPENING CEREMONIES: PHOTOS: Beijing 2008 Olympics Site
::OPENING CEREMONIES: LIVE: Beijing 2008 Olympics Site
::NBC TV OLYMPIC LISTINGS: USAToday
::NBC OLYMPICS VIDEO, NEWS: NBC
::NC OLMPIANS IN THE GAMES: Charlotte Observer