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Ting Shi

Few doubt Beijing's ability to put on a show tomorrow that is bigger, grander and glitzier than that staged by any previous Olympic host city.
The host of this party - overly prepared and yet still agonising over the details - wants to  treat the world to a complete survey of Chinese history and culture, probably dating all the way back to the Stone Age.
If the two-minute sneak preview leaked by a South Korean broadcaster is any guide,  the show will touch on every aspect of Chinese culture a reasonably well-informed westerner could name in 30 seconds.
Tai chi, calligraphy, red drums, dragons and flying phoenixes are sure to have roles to play. And, if the speculation is correct,  bicycles, Peking  Opera,  Confucius,  Shaolin  monks and the legend of Pangu,  who created the world by separating  yin  from  yang, will also put in appearances.
Ric Birch,  the creative guru behind the opening ceremony for the Sydney Olympics  and an artistic adviser for Beijing's gala, said  in a recent interview: 'The world can expect, of course, to be gob-smacked.'
But the question is, will this massive production   engender any new ideas about the host nation, or simply  reinforce  cultural stereotypes?
Cui Weiping ,  a professor at the Beijing Film Academy,  said a successful  ceremony should  allow for the simultaneous expression of many aspects of a nation's culture.
'Chinese culture is much more than the terracotta warriors,  kung fu and the giant pandas,' she said. 'A truly vibrant host should eschew the old cliches rather than embrace them because the latter is narcissism and artistic laziness.'
The show  should be 'selectively inclusive', Professor Cui said.
On the one hand, a hodgepodge of  quintessential Chinese symbols and ideas would clutter the audience's perceptions rather than enlighten them.  On the other, creating a fair portrait of a complex civilisation  would require a sensible  blending of history and  highbrow  and street culture - a mixture of old and new.
That  would be no mean feat, said Ma Weidu ,  a Beijing-based art collector and critic. The show could easily become a gaudy, bloated extravaganza in which the host tries to explain 5,000 years of history and culture in a single breath.
Or it could turn out to be too elegant and intellectual, and thus fail to connect with the audience.
'People would be left wondering, 'what's that all about? Do I need a doctoral degree in Chinese history to understand a show?'' he said.
Hong Kong-based cultural critic Leung Man-tao  said the right tone for the production  would probably remain elusive until the moment of execution.
Athens pulled it off beautifully four years ago, combining myth and human majesty in a mesmerising spectacle that managed to avoid  hyperbole, making it  an Olympics classic. Beijing could attempt a similar combination of the modern and the traditional,  but the show would have to be  understated rather than trying  to upstage the previous one, Mr Leung said.
'Having waited for so long, China's finally got the single most significant occasion for  itself, and she wants it to be huge, bold and spectacular,' he said.
And in an authoritarian state where art must obey rules that are not of its own making,  few would be surprised if the opening gala trumpeted the country's hard-won and ruthlessly maintained 'unity and harmony'.
Or it could be that too tight a focus on 'face' could  result in an over-the-top display of China's present prosperity. However, that route could backfire, Mr Leung said.
'Boasting would make viewers uncomfortable, or even worse, raise concerns,' he said.
'Beijing should delight its guests rather than scare them off. A loveable, gentle image, such as the one Athens cut in 2004, would work much better than an aggressive one.'
The show's chief  architect, film director Zhang Yimou ,  is known for producing opulent costume dramas. In his most recent movie, the sumptuous Tang dynasty action epic Curse of the Golden Flower, a gargantuan gold-laced imperial palace was created and  a cast of thousands clad in bright colours filled the screen.
Mr Leung said he was looking forward to contributions from other artists, such as Chen Qigang ,  a Paris-trained  classical composer who will be supervising the music for  the opening ceremony, and the show's special effects director, Cai Guoqiang , a US-based artist who works with gunpowder.
Mr Ma, the Beijing-based critic, said the ceremony should not be constrained by assumptions about what was appropriate national imagery for international consumption.
'I'll call it a success if by the end of the day Chinese people - in or outside the stadium, in or outside the country - can say, 'I feel proud to be Chinese today',' he said.
The schedule
5.45pm  entertainment show
7pm spectator instruction by volunteers
7.56pm countdown
8pm opening ceremony begins in earnest
8pm-8.14pm Olympic rings display and  national flag-raising
8.14pm gala performance
9.04pm athletes parade
11pm officials from  IOC and China address the crowd; athletes and referees take oath; final torch relay;  cauldron-lighting
11.30pm wrap-up



Expectations and pitfalls line the road to success on opening day