The Tai Chi segment in the Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Directed by Zhang Yimou, director of Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower, and House of Flying Daggers.

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The 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on 8 August 2008. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture. The ceremony was co-directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang. It featured a cast of over 15,000 performers, and was dubbed beforehand as “the most spectacular Olympics Opening Ceremony ever produced”.

A rich assembly of ancient Chinese art and culture dominated the ceremony. It opened with the beating of Fou drums for the countdown. Subsequently, a giant scroll was unveiled and became the show’s centerpiece. The official song of the 2008 Olympics was performed by Britain’s Sarah Brightman and China’s Liu Huan, and was titled You and Me.

Former Chinese gymnast Li Ning ignited the cauldron.

The entry parade of the competing athletes differed in order from previous Olympic ceremonies, as the national teams did not enter in latin alphabetical order. Instead, teams entered the stadium in order (lowest first) of the number of strokes in their Simplified Chinese character transcriptions. As a result, Australia (normally one of the first teams to enter the stadium) became one of the final teams to arrive, as the first character of the Chinese name of Australia (澳大利亚) has 16 strokes. The Olympic traditions of Greece entering first and the the host nation (China) entering last were still observed.

A review of the opening ceremony from around the world called it “spectacular and devoid of politics”.

More than 100 sovereigns, heads of state and heads of government as well as 170 Ministers of Sport will be attending the Beijing Olympic Games.

*this post has been written in kanye style for no reason whatsoever.