Fireworks spectacular to open Games
Under what is hoped will be a clear August 8 night sky free of rain and smog, Beijing's pyrotechnics gurus hope to set the first record of the 2008 Olympics.
Officials announced yesterday that the opening ceremony, which had been wrapped in secrecy, would feature a magical, iconic fireworks first.
'For the first time, the shape of the Olympic Rings will be formed in the sky,' revealed Wang Ning, deputy director of the opening and closing ceremonies department of Bocog, the Games' organiser.
But that will not be the only colourful, fiery, jaw-dropping spectacle to grace the firmament on opening night.
More sophisticated, stylised flash-bangs and whizzes will be seen over the Olympic Forest Park and the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall, said Mr Wang - including a simultaneous exploding of a 3km long battery of fireworks.
'Olympic symbols and elements will be a part of [the] fireworks' designs, [all] with an aim to promote Olympic ideals,' he added.
Those with their fingers on the computerised firing buttons will spark hundreds of compressive air chamber launches - multimillion-dollar technology 'employed for the first time in the display of fireworks', he said.
With one eye on the sky and the other on the environment, Mr Wang said some of the fireworks would use less 'smoking powder' to minimise pollution - a move to ensure the 'green Olympics' concept went off with an eco-friendly bang.
A big rehearsal will be held on August 2 and many of the novel ideas will be tested then.
Artist Cai Guoqiang , who is co-director of visual and special effects of the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, praised one of China's most famous inventions - gunpowder.
'Gunpowder is one of China's inventions ... Fireworks will not only pump up the atmosphere, but they will also have a goal to achieve - that of playing the role of a storyteller,' said Cai, known for his gunpowder and fireworks projects.
The computer ignition system will control the fireworks with split-second launching patterns following the ceremonial flag raising in the 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium.
The climax will see a pyrotechnic mirror image of an earlier showcase montage display of thousands of smiling faces from around the world.
Up in smoke
The display will include the simultaneous ignition of a battery of fireworks with a length of up to: 3km
