CHINA: Spectacular firework display marks dress rehearsal six days ahead of the start of the Beijing Olympics

Record ID: 1530948

  • Title: CHINA: Spectacular firework display marks dress rehearsal six days ahead of the start of the Beijing Olympics
  • Date: 3rd August 2008
  • Summary: (EU) BEIJING, CHINA (AUGUST 2, 2008) (REUTERS) FIREWORKS ARISING ABOVE NATIONAL STADIUM, BIRD'S NEST, WHERE REHEARSAL TAKING PLACE BIRD'S NEST SPECTATORS AROUND BIRD'S NEST LOOKING ON PEOPLE WALKING AND TAKING PICTURES SPECTATORS APPLAUDING AS THEY WATCHING FIREWORKS ARISING ABOVE BIRD'S NEST PERFORMERS OUTSIDE BIRD'S NEST PERFORMING INSIDE BIRD'S NEST
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2008 20:22
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA7HM1QDGAZTXZ6I7MIO6DOAW6W
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Beijing holds another dress rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Olympic games as thousands of crowd areas around the Bird's Nest stadium to watch a spetacular fireworks show.
    Thousands of people on Saturday (August 2) evening flocked to fly-over bridges and main streets near Beijing's Bird's Nest, the national stadium for the Olympic Games, to watch the fireworks that go with the secret dress rehearsal of the Olympics opening ceremony.
    You should not expect anything less from the nation that invented gunpowder, and fireworks are certain to play a major role in the three-hour spectacular that China hopes will help dispel the political controversies dogging their Olympics.
    The steel-latticed Bird's Nest hosts the lavish opening ceremony which will draw on some 10,000 performers and could net a global television audience of more than four billion people.
    Only a few people had the luck to go inside the stadium to watch the rehearsal on Saturday night, but many others still made their way into areas as close as to the Bird's Nest.
    People bursted into applauding when they saw the first fireworks arising above the stadium after waiting eagerly for hours.
    A local resident surnamed Wang said she spent hours on a crowded bus to getting from far west of the city to the stadium which is located in northen part of Beijing. The 65-year-old lady thought it worthwhile for the travel.

    "The bus I took was very crowded. Many people come here to watch the fireworks. We are so excited. I came a long way here and maybe I can only watch the fireworks for just a couple of minutes. But I still feel it worthwhile and I am very happy," said Ms. Wang.
    Lots of Chinese people see the games as a chance to showcase China's national power to the outside world. The Games signal China's ascent from poverty and isolation to a place at the summit of the global community. It now has the world's fourth-largest economy.

    "The Olympics is a once-in-a-life-time event. I think I will remember it for my whole life," said Mr. Chen, who like many others thinks the games will boost the nationalism among his fellow country people.
    The rehearsal for the opening ceremony is held under high security level but has been overshadowed by a video clip filmed by a South Korean broadcasting network SBS showing part of the rehearsal performance that took place on July 30.
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