Watch Olympics opening ceremony online?

[roddy]

Well, we're all dying to know what it was actually like to be in Beijing, don't keep us waiting . . .

[imron]

It was incredible actually, the roads were almost empty at what should have been peak hour, and there was little to no traffic on the road, and so I got from work to the party in maybe 15-20 mins.... oh right, you mean the general atmosphere, well yeah, that was pretty awesome too

[roddy]

Thank you very much to Imron in Beijing, now back to the studio . . .

[Guest realmayo]

In London we're going to applaud madly if the stadium doesn't fall down during the ceremony and the trains leading to the venues actually work.

damn right -- just took me almost 2 hours to get home thanks to messed up overland and underground trains.....

[roddy]

And in news from Canada: Bloody hell, it WAS Da Shan!

[Guest realmayo]

Well let's face it he is the world's most famous Canadian.

[bhchao]

holy shit! 325 replies

[wschao]

I would be really enjoying the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics if it wasn't for the inane comments from BBC presenters.

[gougou]

I will say however, that finding a taxi in Beijing tonight was a friggin' nightmare!

I found it no problem at all - then again, I was travelling during the opening ceremony, not right before or after. The driver I spoke to said business was pretty much as usual.

And in news from Canada: Bloody hell, it WAS Da Shan!

I read an article about half a year back that he had been chosen as personal assistant to the Canadian team to help them get around China. Must be a disappointment for the sport stars if their translator gets asked for more signatures then they themselves...

[skylee]

Love this part (hope the link will last) -> http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=0868SzySkHM

[Outofin]

I’m watching it on NBC.

99% of times, high expectations lead to disappointment. But this time they didn’t fail us.

I’m most impressed by the “footprints”. It was just after commercials. I didn’t realize what it was. I thought it could not be real. It must be some computer graphic in an ad or movie. But it was real! The entire city became a stage of wonderland. So fantastic! But it was just too short, only a few seconds.

I want to say: LET’S DO IT AGAIN! Let Shanghai do 2016 Olympics!

[skylee]

Love this part too -> http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=2OzVcxo6x0c

They kept mentioning the fireworks were lit from 居庸關 to the stadium but I think 居庸關 is pretty far away isn't it? Or perhaps I misheard?

[liuzhou]

The most expensive advert for a sports clothing company ever!

[bhchao]

I'm watching it on NBC right now, and I have to say it's the most spectacular opening ceremony I've seen. I liked the part with the 2000+ tai chi men moving with precision and running in opposite directions. One misstep by even one person would mess up the entire sequence. It was very well executed.

[Outofin]

Hmm, I found some online photos I didn't see on TV. The event was 4 hours long. NBC's version is with lots of commercials. I hope I can buy an full length DVD sometime later.

[self-taught-mba]

Wow came on to see if there was a response or two. Didn't expect 9 pages. If I had taken part I think I would've padded my post count by a year's worth!

It seemed really cool. Only off part I think was the final runner was out of sync with the video/projected torch. Sometimes ahead of it, sometimes almost so far behind he was in the pictures. )Person beside me quipped: "Must be those protests slowed him down a little") But very cool concept of him running around the world.

[self-taught-mba]

Oh my gosh. You said it right. Getting a taxi right before was HORRIBLE!!! And dangerous! Everyone was running and there were cars gunning it down the fulu after whipping around corners. I am serious surprised someone didn't get hit.

All the youtube links got me looking. Thinking the opening ceremony would be most viewed, I checked. But apparently HK bumped this little incident up to claim spots 1-4. Man humps bench trumps Olympics -- at least in HK.

[hidden12345]

Funny.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/08/opinion/edbarry.php

[roddy]

They kept mentioning the fireworks were lit from 居庸關 to the stadium but I think 居庸關 is pretty far away isn't it? Or perhaps I misheard?

I think they had fireworks there, but there wasn't some unbroken line of fireworks all the way from there to the stadium - would have been a waste of money apart from anything else, not many people live along that line, by Beijing standards anyway.

Your second Youtube link has been taken down, Skylee - what was it?

[skylee]

The first link is the countdown and drummers at the beginning. The 2nd link is Li Ning running in the air.