On the Scene in Beijing -- Games Open with Fire in Paralympic Cauldron

A scene from the Paralympics opening ceremony. (Getty Images)(ATR) The 2008 Paralympics open with a blaze of fireworks and a three-hour show for more than four thousand athletes competing in the Games.

For more than 90 minutes before the ceremony started, emcees set the tone for the evening with a steady chorus of exhortations to cheer, but as the lights dimmed and welcoming fireworks burst in the sky, isolated blocks of empty seats were visible in all three tiers of the Bird's Nest stadium.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and German President Horst Koehler were among the 20 or so dignitaries in the audience; another 50 sports ministers from other countries also were present.

The lights came back on for the host country national anthem, then the first performance began with dancers dressed in seven colors symbolically paving a track for the athletes of the world. Those dressed in green, blue and red ended the number by producing hand-held sparklers and racing to the center of the stadium to form the International Paralympic Committee emblem.

Thousands of Performers Welcome Nearly 150 Nations

A mythical sunbird descends into the stadium. (Getty Images)The athletes' parade began with Guinea. Some 147 other teams followed, their order determined by their names in Mandarin characters. Iraq’s flag bearer played to the crowd, pausing a few times on his circuit to wave the flag and bring out some noise. Chinese Taipei earned a loud cheer from the crowd, as did Hong Kong and Macao, but all were nothing compared to the roar for the largest team and host country: China entered last, keeping with tradition.

Most delegates took seats in the first tier the stadium while wheelchair-users ranked up in the two ends of the oval-shaped stage. On the circular dais in the middle, part one of artistic director Zhang Yimou's three-part story began with the "journey of space" as an acrobat dressed as a mythical sunbird slowly glided down from the edge of the stadium to listen to a solo from singer Yang Haitao.

Three hundred girls in lighted, billowy dresses of white next took center stage for a dance performed with sign language lyrics about natural beauty and greeting the stars.

Chapter two began with the strains of Ravel's Bolero and what must be a recent addition to the program: a reference to the May Sichuan earthquake. A ballet dancer loses her leg in the quake, but is determined to keep dancing; a team of dancers tell her story mostly with elaborate upper body and arm movements.

Chapter three’s "journey of time" continued with more familiar classical music as blind pianist Jin Yuanhui performed Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu, while panels on the Chinese team flagbearer Xiao Fu Wang. (Getty Images)dais opened like a child's pop-up book around him, revealing symbols of the four seasons. However, production assistants had to rush to the dais to wrestle with several panels that refused to switch seasons.

As the piano solo finished, 2,000 children began filtering toward center stage. Their playful dance in imitation of animals began the "journey of life" chapter of the show.

The cycle of life in the Paralympic show continued as an elegant young couple performed a love song. Next, the spotlight shifted to a side stage obscuring the 750 dancers underneath it, who, exposing little more than their arms between strips of blue cloth, performed a pantomime of flocks of sea birds. The birds dove back into the sea and a red carpet was rolled out for International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven and BOCOG president Liu Qi to make their way to center stage.

The echo in the stadium rendered Craven's address almost incomprehensible, but Mandarin subtitles on the giant screens in the stadium brought his message to most of the spectators.

"During the 12 days of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, you will realize that the difference that you might have thought existed in the world are in fact, far less apparent," read the transcript. As Craven finished with those words, cameras switched Hou Bin, the final torchbearer, climbs a cable to reach the caldron in the Bird’s Nest Stadium. (Getty Images)to Chinese president Hu Jintao. English subtitles to his sole comment appeared on the screens: "I declare open the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games!"

The crowd roared when singers Andy Lau and Han Hong next appeared to sing the Games theme song: "Flying with the Dream". The Paralympic flag finally entered the stadium borne by eight Chinese champions in powerlifting, athletics, table tennis and archery. Soldiers took the flag from the athletes for the official raising; it hung limply from the pole on the way up until it caught the artificial breeze at the top and began fluttering alongside the host country flag. Representatives from China then took the athletes' and judges’ pledges on behalf of their colleagues.

Wheelchair Fencer Carries Torch into Stadium

And finally the torch entered the stadium in the hands of wheelchair fencer Jin Jing. She became a hero in China in April, when she carried the Olympic torch during the Paris leg of the international relay. She clung to the torch as police wrestled a “Free Tibet” protester to the ground after he lunged at her.

She began the circuit of the stage, followed by a mini-relay of six Paralympic champions from China, including the first, Ping Yali.

The torch had spent the morning on a short tour in Beijing, where 120 torchbearers carried the flame through Chaoyang Park. Ping passed the flame to the very last torchbearer, athlete Hou Bin. Hou then placed the torch in a special mount on his wheelchair and climbed a rope, his wheelchair in a sling, bringing the flame to the bottom edge of a cauldron. He touched the flame to a fuse, launching a coil of fire up around the cauldron, which burst into fire against a background of fireworks.

Written by Maggie Lee in Beijing

ATR Coverage of the Beijing Paralympics is Proudly Presented by Rio 2016.

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