Be1j1ng 2008 Olympic*DO you love it?

Obverse face of the medal Reverse side of the medal2008-08-08 13:26:15 GMT2008-08-08 21:26:15 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo) Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo) Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo) Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo) (Xinhua Photo)

Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo)

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) - The cauldron of the Beijing Olympic Games was lit by former gymnastics star Li Ning in the National Stadium in north Beijing on Friday night.

The triple gold medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, who is now a successful entrepreneur, took a stunt-like and painstaking journey around the top of the stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest, before setting ablaze the giant cauldron.

Lifted with computer-controlled wires on his waist, the 45-year-old Li imitated running along the 500-meter-long, 14-meter-wide brim of the bowl-shaped, roofless top of the Bird's Nest, which is also a gigantic screen.

Videos of the Olympic torch's global relay, covering a record distance of some 137,000 kilometers in 129 days, was shown on the screen, closely following Li's running paces as if a painting scroll was being unfolded.

"Today, the Olympic flame lit in Olympia has come to the end of its odyssey and will be kindled to adorn the night sky of Beijing," said Liu Qi, head of the Games' organizing committee, in an earlier speech, while calling the cauldron lighting a "dazzling historic moment."

The worldwide relay of the Beijing Olympic torch, designed to be a "journey of harmony," endured many unexpected hardships, particularly violent protests by "Tibet independence" supporters and even attempts to seize and extinguish it. Its domestic relay was also halted for three days as the nation mourned its quake dead in May, and the route rescheduled to avoid any impact on the relief work in the quake-stricken Sichuan Province.

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) - Led by NBA star Yao Ming and Lin Hao, a primary school student from the quake-affected Sichuan province, the Chinese delegation paraded into the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on Friday night.

The 9-year-old Lin walked ahead of the 1,099-member delegation, side by side with the 7-foot-6 basketballer, who carried the Chinese national flag.

Team China, which includes 639 athletes and has an average age of 24.4, will compete in all 28 sports.

Lin is a second-grader at the Yuzixi Primary School in Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County. Wenchuan was the epicenter of a devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 that killed over 69,000 people.

Sharpshooter Tan Zongliang, 37, is one of the three Chinese athletes making their fourth Olympic trip. The other two are basketballer Li Nan and Guo Jingjing, two time Olympic champion on women's springboard.

While 469 are making their Olympic debuts, 37 took part in the Sydney Games in 2000 and 165 were in Athens four years ago.

The Chinese delegation also includes 42 ethnic athletes over 18 sports.

The delegation included 38 foreign coaches including men's basketball manager Jonas Kazlauskas of Lithuania.

The first-time Olympic host has had very impressive performance in the last few Games. After Xu Haifeng shot down China's first ever Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, China has step by step become a world sports powerhouse.

Chinese athletes finished with 32 gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games, second only to 36 claimed by the United States.

Expectations are high that China will improve on that tally on home soil. However, Chinese sports officials have played down hopes of overtaking the United States in the medal table.

"The United States and Russia are still the strongest powers in world sports, our goal is to finish on top of the 'second group' at the Beijing Games," said Cui Dalin, China's deputy chef-de-mission.

Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the fireworks of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games held in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)

Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo)

Photo taken on Aug. 8, 2008 shows the art performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, titled "Beautiful Olympics", in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China.(Xinhua Photo)

i am a chinese….and i want to make friends with you…..

if you want to make friend with me too…..please leave your MSN…then i will add you to my friends….

if you like, i will willing to teach you the chinese launage or the chinese culture!

recalling…

I was moved and shocked by the opening ceremony!I am so proud of motherland.