Spectacular ceremony opens Olympics

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics officially took flight from the Bird's Nest stadium Friday, with the opening ceremony kicking off at 8 p.m. local time.

Li Ning, a Chinese gymnast who won six medals at the 1984 Games, lit the Olympic torch as a large group of world leaders lead by Presidents Hu Jintao of China and George Bush of the United States watched. Li was suspended by wires as he circled the stadium and then lit the huge cauldron.

The show opened with 2,008 young men playing traditional Chinese drums and included thousands of performers and spectacular fireworks. The show, organized by Zhang Yimou, director of the "House of Flying Daggers," highlighted some Chinese contributions to world culture, including the invention of papermaking.

Contingents of athletes from 205 countries marched into the stadium. The 600 U.S. competitors wore navy-blue coats, khaki slacks and nautical-style hats and were 140th in the parade.

While overt criticism of Chinese policy in Tibet or Darfur was absent, the U.S. flag was carried by Lopez Lomong, a long-distance runner who fled the Sudan and is now a U.S. citizen.