Summer Games opening ceremony

BEIJING - On the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the millennium, China welcomed the world to the 29th Olympiad with a blockbuster opening ceremony that launched arguably the most anticipated and assuredly the most controversial Games in modern Olympic history. Fireworks illuminate the sky over the National Stadium after the Olympic cauldron is lit during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 8, 2008. The stadium is also known as the Bird's Nest.

北京奧運不只是一場運動盛會，亦被視為中國晉身為世界現代強國的加冕大典。 在北京鳥巢國家體育場舉行的奧運會開幕禮於8月8日晚上八時開始，現場有近十萬觀眾和約八十位國家政府元首。