Today was a special day. Well, that's a bit of an understatement. It felt like a mix of New Year's Eve, Chinese New Year, Thanksgiving and Fourth of July. In fact, it was a holiday as employers gave workers the day off to relieve the congestion on the roads.

 

It was a day for Chinese to express national pride by waving flags and chanting “Jia You Zhong Guo” meaning “Go China”. It felt like Thanksgiving because for many Chinese, the day will be about family and spending the evening with their loved ones in front of the television. It felt like Chinese New Year because that is the BIGGEST holiday in China. It felt like New Year's because counting down to 8:00pm 8th of August felt like a New Year's Eve countdown.

 

I tried to take photos throughout the day to see what was going on outside our office at the Bird’s Nest and surrounding area.

 

The atmosphere on the streets was amazing. People were waving flags and wearing red headbands that said "Go China."

 

I watched Opening Ceremonies at my colleague's apartment. His apartment has a view of the Bird’s Nest and the fireworks. There were LIVE SITES around Beijing with monitors at parks and public plazas. It would've been unpleasant to deal with the big crowds and the oppressive HEAT. We were quite comfortable in my colleague's apartment — air conditioning, clean bathroom, and cold beer.

 

Walking through the streets to get to my colleague’s apartment, it was amazing to see the crowds. I was enjoying the vibe and energy of the common people. The people were just standing on the street even though they were 2 kilometers from the Bird's Nest and can see somewhat of a view of the fireworks. They just wanted to be near the Bird's Nest. I was moved by the enthusiasm of the local people. A collective anticipation for this historical event.

 

For the past 7 years, these people have prepared for the Olympics. They have thought of nothing else but the Olympics. Everything in the city — the construction, the modification of behavior, the learning of English — is FOR THE Olympics. "Wei Ao Yun" — "because of the Olympics" — is a common mantra.

 

The Opening Ceremonies was broadcast only in Chinese on CCTV. We didn't know what the hell was going on. My Chinese isn't good enough to understand the story and the historical references. It would've been nice to see NBC's coverage and have Bob Costas narrate the evening's festivities. Rick's (colleague) apartment is on the 29th floor. During the broadcast as we anticipated the fireworks, we'd rush to the window with our cameras and snapped away at the amazing display of fireworks outside the window. Watching the broadcast with people who work in television production, we laughed at some of the shoddy camera work. Some times, the camera panned to a crowd shot and showed people on their cell phone or it would show the floor and shoes as the athletes were walking in. There was also dead air when the presenters didn't say anything. We certainly missed NBC's top-level production.

 

The show was amazing. The Chinese should be proud of the show. The march of the athletes was long and boring. We had no idea what order the athletes were marching in. We knew Greece would be first and China would be last as the host nation.

 

How do the countries come in alphabetical order, when the Chinese don't use the alphabet? Do they come in pinyin order? Like USA is "Mei Guo" meaning beautiful country. Japan is "Ri Ben". I had to call Frank my Chinese friend to ask what order the countries would be coming. I said I needed to time when I go to the bathroom as I didn't want to miss TEAM USA.

 

Turns out the countries come in stroke order. The number of strokes in the first word of their country. When I called him, we were on the countries with 7 strokes. USA would be at 9 strokes. It takes 9 strokes to write "Mei" as in “Mei Guo," meaning beautiful country.

 

It's hard to march in 10,000 athletes from 205 countries in a quick manner. The athletes must've been dying in their suits/uniforms in that heat!! We joked that the Opening Ceremonies was longer than the Oscars. At least the Oscars has the orchestra play music to rush the winner's speech!  Some of my friends fell asleep during the athletes march.

 

The fireworks display at the end of the night was amazing, OF COURSE. The Chinese don't mess around when it comes to fireworks. The fireworks was in the stadium but also through the Olympic Green (Olympic Park).

 

At the end of the Opening Ceremonies I was relieved, proud and happy. The weather cooperated. There was no rain. It was the usual smog but that's okay. I'll take that as long as it was dry, I was happy. After 7 years of preparation, it would've been tragic if Mother Nature hadn't cooperated. On the Luckiest Day EVER, it would've been SO unlucky for it to have rained. I was also relieved that there was NO attack despite various threats. All the inconveniences of intense security checks paid off and nothing happened (that we were aware of). Beijing should be proud for pulling it off. Let the Games begin!!