Pyrotechnics and pageantry open the Games

ONCE-RECLUSIVE China commandeered the world stage yesterday, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pageantry and pyrotechnics to open a Summer Games unrivalled for its mix of problems and promise.

Now ascendant as a global power, China welcomed scores of world leaders to an opening ceremony watched by 91,000 people at the eye-catching National Stadium and a potential audience of four billion worldwide. It was depicted as the largest, costliest extravaganza in Olympic history, book-ended by a barrage of 30,000 fireworks.

To the beat of sparkling explosions, the crowd counted down the seconds before the show began. A sea of drummers — 2,008 in all — pounded out rhythms with their hands, then acrobats on wires drifted down into the stadium as rockets shot up into the night sky from its rim.