Preparation work for the Opening Ceremony of the Games

Good to see you, friends from the press, good morning to you. In two days time, the Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games will be held in the National Stadium, which is not too far away from where we are. Following the three rehearsals, we can now declare to you quite solidly, that the Opening Ceremony for the Games is ready. I will introduce you some aspects that relate to the Opening Ceremony.

The time slot of the Opening Ceremony. Before the formal launch of the Opening Ceremony, we will have performances before the Opening Ceremony which will last 1 hour and 15 minutes, that is from 5:45 p.m. to 7 p.m., there are 28 performances with strong national and local characteristics.

At around 7 p.m., we will conduct an audience orientation. Afterwards, at 7:56 p.m., the countdown will start. At 8 p.m., the Opening Ceremony will be formally started. The Opening Ceremony will not end until 11:30 p.m.

Secondly, something about the main flow of the opening ceremony. The first part is before the performance including welcoming ceremony, the display of Olympic Rings, the entry of the national flag, raising of the national flag and the playing of the national anthem. This part is about 14 minutes.

The second part is the performing arts part. We name it the beautiful Olympics. And it is composed of 2 parts. First, splendid civilization; second, magnificent times.

In terms of the content for the performance, it will last for an hour. In terms of the content covered, we will showcase the ancient long history of the Chinese nation, the splendid culture as well as the achievements of the reform and what the modern Chinese people can offer to the world. In terms of the style, the summary will consist of the Chinese story or rather a story of China. It will showcase the national characteristics and the characteristics of the time. They will use something unique to China, painting scrolls. We will showcase the essence of the civilization using an antique display. We will use beautiful colors to showcase the vitality of China and make use of the creative arts to make sure that the opening ceremony is of international and contemporary nature.