Last night I watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing.

It was definitely one of the best opening ceremony in Olympic history.

Particularly sweet was the incorporation of the 5,000 year old ancient history, culture, and Civilization of China, with the spectacular performance which lasted more than 3 hours and which was directed by the famous Chinese director, Zhang Yimou.

I particularly liked the dance which mimicked the Chinese brush painting, and how almost every performance took the giant stage shaped in the form of the scroll as center-stage.

The lighting of the torch involved Li Ning who was raised on wires and mimed running around the stadium, at the same time, a virtual scroll unrolled paralleled to him, unfurling the different leg of the journey. In the end, the torch was lit from the base with a feeding tube which allowed the flame to travel all the way to the top!