"From what we have seen so far, the preparations for Beijing 2008 are truly impressive in every regard," he said. "I don't think we have ever seen preparations on this scale."
Beijing's new anthem — the just-released pop song "We're Ready" — opened the ceremony, sung by a chorus of Chinese celebrities on a stage surrounded by banks of searchlights.
The timing of the ceremony — the eighth day of the eighth month at 8 p.m. — was specially chosen: Eight is considered an auspicious number in Chinese because it rhymes with the word for "prosper."
We should watch their preparations closely. I remain concerned about what exactly they are ready for. A non-monsoon window exists from May to July.
Of course, another window exists in October, so I won't relax until November 2008. As much as I would use the Olympics to achieve surprise to capture Taiwan were I in charge of China, China might want to have the Olympics and Taiwan, I suppose.
