News: It's still a good show, even with the baggage

I know the PRC's come under heavy fire for their heavy-handed human rights offenses, as well as their involvement (or non-involvement, as it were) in the Darfur crisis. Heck, that last sentence alone might make you unable to read this Shangrila Towers post inside of China. I also know the IOC, when it comes to corruptions and scandals, is about as dirty as last month's garbage. Intellectually, I know all that, but my jaw still dropped when I watched the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in the Bird's Nest yesterday:



Zhang Yimou and the 15,000 performers (I think something like 9,000 of those were from the army) put on a memorable spectacle. The whole thing had a hopeful theme, with very minor political overtones. When thousands of people onstage opened up umbrellas, each with the picture of a child from a different country, it was pretty stirring.