The 2008 Beijing Olympic

Opening Ceremony

Fact and FiguresFeatures Four Inventions

of Ancient China

National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest

Olympic Green in Northern Beijing

The Venue

The stadium was jointly designed by Herzog & de Meuron

Design Office, and China Architecture Design & Research

Group and ARUP. Its construction began on Dec. 24, 2003,

and completed on June 30, 2008. Altogether 45,000 tonnes

of steel was used to build its framework.

The stadium's seating capacity is 91,000, including 11,000

temporary seats. The floor space is 258,000 square

meters.

GROUND FACILITIES

A major elevating platform at the center is 20 meters in

diameter, weighing about 400 tonnes, and can reach 11.4

meters high at a speed of zero to 12 meters per minute.

Two moving lids on the stage serve as a roof. A 36 by 22

meters LED screen is installed on the plates.

On the south and north sides are 30 complementary

platforms, with each 3-meter-wide and 3-meter-long.

GROUND FACILITIES

When the two lids move toward the center, the

complementary platforms will rise and make up the stage.

Two sets of 22-meter-long LED scroll painting were

installed, with a diameter of 22 meters.

With LED images shown on it, the scroll painting can

stretch 147 meters long.

ABOVE-STAGE FACILITIES

Ten steel ropes are hung above the stage, weighing 40

tonnes in all and with a total length of 55 kilometers.

Among the 31 wire devices, 16 sets can carry a load of 300

kilograms each, with a load of 100 kilograms for each of the

other 15. All can move at 3 meters per second and can

function at the same time.

One hundred jumping facilities with a load capacity of 80

kilograms each are set under the rim of the roof edge, which

can move at 3 meters per second and be operated

simultaneously.

LED SCREEN ON THE GROUND

A 147 by 22 meters LED screen is laid at the center.

Approximately 44,000 colorful LED beads are embedded

with a distance of 600 millimeters between each two.

FIREWORKS CELEBRATION

-- 287 points on the top of National Stadium

-- 27 positions in the central area of National Stadium

-- 12 positions in the Olympic Green

-- 29 positions on the axis of the city

-- 4 places in other urban areas

MUSIC

A total of 110 minutes of music was created by

18 composers for the opening ceremony.

LIGHTING

Altogether 2,583 special lights are used and lighting

equipment weighing more than 300 tonnes has been

installed. Electricity load for lighting totals 6,440

kilowatt.

COSTUMES

A total of 15,153 sets of costumes in 47 styles.

REHEARSAL

Some performances have been rehearsed for 13

months. Volunteers began their first mass

rehearsal in March 2008.

Beijing Olympics opening

features four inventions

of ancient China

PAPERMAKING

The invention of papermaking is one of China's special

contributions to the spread and the development of

human civilizations.

Papermaking was represented in Friday's opening

ceremony with a Chinese painting scroll that opened to

begin the performances and a sheet of white paper that

was laid in the center of the scroll.

!!MOVABLE TYPE PRINTINGIn the "writing" part of the opening ceremony was a

performance of movable type printing, which takes an image

of both ancient character case and modern computer

keyboard.

Movable type printing began with engraving printing of Sui

Dynasty (581 AD-618 AD). Bi Sheng of Song Dynasty (960

AD-1276 AD) improved the movable type printing by making

the baked clay into movable characters for type-setting

printing; thus he accomplished a significant revolution in

printing history.

Bi Sheng is known as the first ancestor of printing. The movable type

printing pioneered the modern civilization of mankind.

COMPASS

The compass was introduced to Europe approximately in

the 12th century. Its application to the navigation resulted in

the voyage of Columbus' discovery of the New World and

Magellan's global navigation.

In the "Silk Road" part of the performances, an important

passage for economic and cultural exchanges between

China and Western countries, a performer held an ancient

compass in his hand.

GUNPOWDER

Gunpowder was represented in the display of fireworks

Gunpowder was invented in the Song Dynasty (960 AD -

1276 AD) in China. It is the mixture of potassium nitrate,

sulfur and charcoal -- elements that people took as medicine

in ancient times, hence the name "gunpowder" in Chinese

means "burning medicines".

One World One DreamKeep the Spirit of the Olympic Alive !

Disclaimer: All the information here are the efforts of the authors compilation and the author is not claiming any ownership of

these pictures, Will not be responsible for any copyright claimed. All info are from Xinhua News Agency

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