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Beijing
Olympics -
Inauguration
·
On August 8,
2008 China
opened its
gates to
culture,
life and the
world of
sports at
gala
extravaganza
of 29th
Olympics
inauguration
at Beijing
(17-day set
to witness
sportspersons
from
204 nations
competing
for 302
events in 28
sports
·
Distinguished
personalities
representing
80 countries
have
attended the
ceremony.
·
China has
invested $
43 billion
on the Games,
including $
100 million
on the
opening and
closing
ceremonies.
On August 8,
2008 theme
song of the
Beijing
Olympic
Games, “You
and Me”,
was unveiled
at the
opening
ceremony of
Beijing
Olympic
Games in the
National
Stadium -
Chinese
singer Liu
Huan and
British
soprano
Sarah
Brightman
jointly
presented
the song
Mission
IAS’2009
·
On August 8,
2008 China
held the
final 7.9-km
leg of the
2008 Olympic
torch relay
before the
lighting of
the cauldron
at the
opening
ceremony in
National
Stadium
(flame
travelled
some 137,000
km, mostly
by air, over
130 days)
· The
last 7.9-km
leg began at
Beijing's
Peking Man
museum
in the
south-western
suburb of
Zhoukoudian,
where a
fossilized
human skull
dating back
at least
200,000
years was
found in
1926.
On August 7,
2008 the
Olympic
flame relay
reached the
Great Wall
of China
near Beijing
and was
taken along
a 14.6-km
route to the
Ditan
(Temple of
the Earth)
Park in the
city centre.
·
China's
first
astronaut to
make a space
flight,
Yang Liwei,
led the
relay from
the
Forbidden
City, just
north of
Tiananmen
Square.
Some
Expressions
·
On August
11, 2008
Norwegian
Gerhard
Heiberg,
chairman of
marketing
commission
of IOC, said
Chinese
police and
military are
frightening
tourists
with a
''stone
face''
at the
Beijing
Games and
should smile
more
·
On August
11, 2008 Ron
Clarke, most
prolific
world record
breaker of
Australia,
former
Olympian and
Gold Coast
mayor,
criticised
Beijing
Olympic
opening
ceremony for
being "too
robotic"
and
extravagant.
(Clarke has
attended 20
Olympic
opening
ceremonies
since 1956).
·
He said
Beijing
Olympics
opening
ceremony was
spectacular,
but lacked
soul.
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