At a time and date considered auspicious, China began perhaps the most keenly watched Olympic Games in history. At a propitious confluence of 8s, traditionally considered so favourable, at 8 pm on 8.8.08, the opening ceremony began, condensing in an hour five thousand years of Chinese civilization in a spectacular feat of symbolism and historical sweep.

With unprecedented attendance by world leaders — including Sonia Gandhi, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush — one of China’s most well-known filmmakers, Zhang Yimou, artistic director of the opening ceremony, used a contemporary aesthetic to harness the epic scale of Chinese dance drama, adding to its grandeur precision and synchronization.

Integrating fireworks (by the official estimate, 20,000 of them, some zooming back into the packed Bird’s Nest, others lighting up the wider Beijing sky and some reflecting the festivities at the Great Wall) and multimedia to create optical illusions, he reached back to the Xia dynasty, circa 2000 BC, using the traditional Chinese scroll to show the passage of time.

The two aspects of the message were conveyed by the titles of the two halfs of the opening ceremony: brilliant civilization and glorious era.

Together, they reflected the assertions China is making with these Games: its confidence to come out as a dazzling and self-confident participant in global celebrations, and its keenness to be more integrated in international institutions.

The nationalist message in all this was carefully kept subtle. National pride reached back into the past, the present was given to internationalisation.

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