Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 456 His Era Has Arrived! (Original article, 2 extra chapters for the Olympics)
On the evening of the 7th, Mr. Lu, who had "passed by his home three times without entering," returned home and had a welcome dinner with Zhang Chunru's parents, husband, and children who were visiting.

After briefly reviewing the final procedures and key points in the study, I went swimming with my girlfriend.

He needed to relax before the big battle.

After a tender and sweet lovemaking session that night, he fell into a deep sleep.

It feels like it's been a long time since I've had such a peaceful night's sleep.

At 5:30 a.m. the next day, the virtuous girlfriend got up early and made a simple bowl of plain noodles.

The soup is clear and bright, with soft-boiled eggs resting on the thin, silvery noodles, and vibrant green scallions adorning the oil.

"Why don't you eat?"

"It's too early, I don't have an appetite. I'll sleep a little longer after you leave."

Lu Kuan's first stop today was the meteorological office at the Olympic Building. Since early morning, Zhang Qiang's professional team has been closely monitoring the situation and ready to take action at any time.

He was going to oversee the battle and keep abreast of the situation.

As dawn broke, pale blue light seeped through the gaps in the living room's French windows. Liu Yifei sat at the dining table, her chin resting on her hand, her gaze fixed on her boyfriend's face like melting honey.

The moment Boss Lu took his first sip of the hot soup, his eyes widened: "The broth is excellent!"

His voice was muffled, and as he twirled the noodles with his chopsticks, tiny droplets of soup flew up. His slurping swallows made Liu Yifei laugh, revealing her dimples. Watching him wolf down his food, her fingertips unconsciously twirled around the ends of his hair.

While he was getting a second bowl, Xiao Liu turned and went upstairs.

The delicate clatter of high heels drifted over, and when the road widened and I looked up again, a breathtaking sight unfolded before me:

Liu Xiaolu's moon-white cheongsam hugged her slender figure, with the buttons fastened three inches below her collarbone, revealing glimpses of her smooth, white thighs through the slit.

Before the washing machine could even react, she had already turned and sat in her lap, the hem of her cheongsam brushing against the edge of the dining table like a ray of moonlight.

The washing machine clicked its tongue in admiration: "Thank goodness I didn't get this perk last night, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get up this morning."

"Don't overthink it, this means you'll have a great start!" Liu Yifei smiled and touched her boyfriend's chest. The "old married couple" naturally embraced and kissed, but Liu Xiaolu's disgust ruined the romantic atmosphere.

"It smells like noodle soup, I'm not kissing anymore! Ugh..."

Is that up to you?
The washing machine's palm, which was holding the back of her head, was burning hot. When they separated, Liu Yifei's lips became even more luscious and tempting, like cinnabar spreading on rice paper.

"Feels good, let's go! Battle!"
-
It is no exaggeration to say that today's Beiping is a war machine with top-notch mobilization capabilities.

Starting in the early morning, Zhang Qiang's meteorological team, given that rain clouds were moving towards the city from the west and southwest of Beiping, adopted a method of artificial interception, mainly using rockets carrying catalysts, to suppress the rain.

After expending hundreds of rockets, rain fell in Fangshan in the southwest and Miyun in the northeast, but everyone, including the military support team, still dared not slack off.

Lu Kuan stayed in the meteorological office until eight o'clock, and then rushed to the Bird's Nest.

Starting with the assembly speech at nine o'clock in the morning, all performers patiently rehearsed, silently recited, and checked the implementation of every detail over and over again.

After lunch, a weary-looking leader, Mr. Liu, visited the Bird's Nest to wish all the staff a smooth evening before leaving to receive distinguished guests from various countries.

Even though the Olympics have not yet been officially decided and everything is still uncertain tonight, the rumors that he may have to shoulder a heavier burden have already reached Lu Kuan's ears.

At 5 p.m., CCTV reporter Zhang Quanling provided live coverage from the scene.

"Hello viewers, this is a special Olympic program. I am currently located at the South Plaza of the Bird's Nest. There are still 3 hours until the opening ceremony. Due to the large number of spectators, all security checkpoints are now fully open."

"As you can see in Zone D behind me, this Olympic Games uses a real-name electronic ticketing system that combines RFID radio frequency identification technology with facial recognition technology to achieve efficient and accurate identity verification and ticket anti-counterfeiting. This is the first time in Olympic history that such technology has been successfully applied on a large scale."

The camera pans across the ticket gate, where the security checkpoint flashes blue light as staff quickly verify information using handheld scanners.

Audiences of different skin colors thronged the crowd, some waving national flags for selfies, children riding on their fathers' shoulders and eating candied hawthorns, creating a lively and bustling scene.

Zhang Quanling conducted in-depth interviews among the crowd. This world-renowned grand event, broadcast on television, also carried the dreams of countless ordinary Chinese people.

Guo Liang, a foreign trade businessman from Changsha, brought his son to Beijing. In an interview, he said that he spent 3000 yuan to buy a good spot. He has taken his son to many countries in recent years, but he still wanted to bring him to Beijing to let him feel the strength of the motherland and cultivate his national pride!

Zhu Yue, a college student from East China Normal University, volunteered outside the Bird's Nest. When asked if he regretted not being able to watch the opening ceremony in person because of his volunteer work, he replied that director Lu Kuan had specially invited all the volunteers to watch the final rehearsal on the 6th, and the performance was wonderful, so he had no regrets.

Meanwhile, Liu Yifei and her mother Liu Xiaoli were also at the same ticket gate as Zhang Quanling's interview team.

Iris Chang's parents, Shao-Chin Chang and Ying-Ying Chang, along with her husband and children, all went to watch her torch relay and will enter through a special passage later.

"Hello, is this Xixi?" A soft voice asked from behind. Liu Yifei took out her mask and turned around.

A gentle-looking young man greeted her with a smile, speaking with a slight Cantonese accent, like a tourist from out of town.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything. I've liked your work for a long time. Can I take a picture with you?"

Xiao Liu readily agreed: "Okay."

"These two newly bought Monchhichi dolls represent happiness and good fortune, so I'm giving them to you! I wish Director Lu a successful Olympic opening ceremony tonight!"

Liu Yifei was surprised for two seconds, then smiled and accepted the gift: "Thank you! I wish you all the best!"

Amid the surging crowd, Xiao Liu wore a mask to slightly conceal her face. Her combination of a black leather skirt and a denim jacket was playful and charming, and her long legs gleamed porcelain white under the lights outside the Bird's Nest.

She was wearing a Chanel quilted chain bag slung across her shoulder and was extremely excited as she linked arms with Liu Xiaoli.

"Stop, stop, stop shaking me. I know you're about to see your sweetheart happy."

Liu Yifei retorted, "No way, besides, you won't see him. Lu Kuan will be in the command room the whole time."

Liu Xiaoli looked around: "I don't know if Su Chang and Jing Tian have gone in yet. Why don't you call and ask?"

"Don't ask. They won't sit with us when we go in, so asking won't do any good." Liu Yifei shrugged. "It's already difficult enough to get a ticket to sit with Sister Chunru. Even with Lu Kuan, we have to avoid suspicion."

The elderly mother smiled and teased, "So you're protecting her already?"

"Of course!" Liu Xiaolv hugged his mother proudly, what was there left to hide in front of her?

The sale of Olympic tickets began in 2007. According to regulations, the chief director could only give two tickets to family members, but the seats were indeed very good.

The votes for Zhang Chunru's family were specially approved by the leadership, easily achieved through the united front pretext.

Managers of more than a dozen subsidiaries of Wenjie Holdings, including Zhuang Xu and Lao Dong, shamelessly came to him for votes. Who doesn't have personal connections?
However, all of them were rejected, so they had to use their own methods.

On ordinary days, it's a small matter for him to indulge his power a little and give his girlfriend special treatment, like getting her into or out of the Olympic building.

However, such strictly regulated ticketing issues, once exposed, become scandals.

Liu Xiaoli and her daughter queued up with ordinary audience members to have their tickets checked and enter the venue. Fortunately, they were not recognized because they were wearing masks in the dark.

They arrived at the VIP area on the west side of the main stage of the Bird's Nest Stadium, which is the VIP area closest to the seats of world leaders and International Olympic Committee officials.

The reason for placing the internal tickets for Olympic staff here is also for security reasons.

It's generally safer to arrange for the families of people like Lu Kuan, Zhang Yimou, or Zhang Heping to be assigned here after political vetting.

Liu Yifei looked around excitedly, delighted that she could see the director's command center from this position, but she couldn't see the people inside.

Liu Xiaoli took out her phone and took a few photos of her daughter, exclaiming, "Qianqian, we're right in front of the main performance area! We can see the LED screens below so clearly. What a great spot!"

"More than that!" Xiao Liu was quite familiar with the Bird's Nest, having watched the show from this very spot during rehearsals: "Later, we'll be able to see the ground formations and the aerial wires at eye level, the view will be absolutely fantastic!"

Liu Yifei's phone vibrated in her bag.

"Hey? Changchang? I'm here on the podium, right here by the Fifth Ring Road, you can see me at a glance."

Su Chang was furious: "The location is too good! I'm so jealous of you! You bad woman!"

"Oh, it's just so-so, hehe!"

"Tch! Look at how smug you are. I can watch it with Zhuang Xu, but where's your fiancé?"

Liu Yifei retorted with a "tch": "My fiancé is commanding thousands of troops up there, so what?"

"What's so great about it? Don't you understand the saying 'I only envy the mandarin ducks, not the immortals'? So what if your boyfriend flies up to the sky? He's not taking you with him!"

"Aaaaah! You just wait!" Xiao Liu gritted his teeth.

Zhuang Xu's voice came from the other end of the receiver. He took the phone and laughed, "Yi Fei, you two stop joking around. Be careful when you leave later. You can wait until the end and leave with Lu Kuan."

"Okay, got it."

Liu Yifei was getting a little annoyed by her best friend's antics and felt irritated. So she called Jing Tian again, bragging about how great her spot was and how her boyfriend had put together tonight's show. She thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Gritting your teeth won't disappear, it will only shift. Now it's Da Tian Tian's turn to be helplessly furious.

I really want to steal Liu Yifei's girlfriend!
But I dare not!

After showing off, Liu Xiaolu raised his eyebrows triumphantly at his elderly mother. Liu Xiaoli nodded helplessly at her, and music started playing in the room.

At 5:40 p.m., Dong Qing's clear voice rang out through the stadium's loudspeaker: "Dear viewers, welcome to the opening ceremony of the 29th Summer Olympic Games!"

Her voice was filled with barely concealed excitement, as if it could penetrate the noise of the entire venue.

Yang Lan followed closely behind, greeting the international guests in fluent English, her voice gentle and warm, yet powerful.

The pre-opening ceremony performances have begun.

The central performance area suddenly lit up, and a lion from Cangzhou, Hebei Province, leaped onto the high platform. Its golden and red body moved and tumbled to the beat of the drums, and the sound of the drums made people's chests tremble.

Immediately afterwards, the Ansai Waist Drum Team from northern Shaanxi swept in like a whirlwind, with a hundred strong men bare-chested, red silk ribbons fluttering, and the boldness of the Loess Plateau transformed into a deafening roar at this moment.

"Was the pre-show performance also planned by Xiao Lu and his team?" Liu Xiaoli asked, looking at the dance moves on stage with great interest.

Liu Yifei nodded: "Yes, there are more than 20 different ethnic minority programs, as well as the Qiang ethnic group's 'pole pushing' from the disaster area, and there are also programs performed by people from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan."

"The opening performances are themed around the reunification of the motherland and the great unity of the nation."

"That's great, that's great."

Like Liu Xiaoli, countless Chinese and foreign viewers at the scene and in front of their televisions expressed the same sentiment at this moment.

Liu Yifei was excited for a while, then looked up at the location of the command room and took out her Nokia N95 from her pocket.

She also had an Apple iPhone 3G in her bag, which had just been released in July, but as someone who was clueless about electronic products, she hadn't figured out how to use it yet; for now, its only function was taking pictures.

Xiao Liu originally wanted to call her boyfriend one last time, but after thinking about it, she opened her text message and typed "Keep it up!".

She thought for a moment, bit her cherry lips with her pearly teeth, and added two words before "Go for it!" with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Come on, hubby!"

However, this sweet sentiment that arrived a month early has not yet been received by the recipient.

In the control room, Lu Kuan was giving instructions to the broadcaster, BOB, and assigned Zhao Fei to the main control position.

The BOB is a Sino-foreign joint venture established under the leadership of the International Olympic Committee. Its core team consists of top global broadcasting experts, including international media professionals from EBU in Europe, NBC in the United States, and the BBC in the United Kingdom.

As the chief director, Lu Kuan was not qualified to interfere in the broadcast.

However, as the chief director, he received direct authorization from Leader Liu, and his scope of authority was very broad.

Why did he interfere with the broadcast?

This is a lesson learned from the "blood and tears" of the previous life.

If the artistic achievement of the previous opening ceremony was 100 points, then the BOB broadcast conveyed at most 50 points to the audience in front of the television.

In large-scale galas, the director, who is responsible for switching cameras and deciding on camera positions, bears a heavy responsibility.

A good director can make good use of camera angles and close-ups to present the best effect to the audience, but BOB clearly had the opposite effect.

For example, a shot of an actor holding a bamboo scroll might look like a freehand landscape painting from a distance, but in a close-up on television, he would appear as a weirdo with feathers stuck in his hair.

Or, during the performance of "Ode to the Motherland" and the stunning fireworks display during the flag-raising ceremony, BOB's broadcast angle surprisingly focused on the audience and IOC members.

So much so that many classic scenes were later taken from the official edited version released by BOB.

From the perspective of a professional director, Mr. Lu clarified the detailed requirements for the broadcasting company once again:

"In the 'Text' segment I just mentioned, we first used an aerial perspective to present a dynamic scroll, highlighting the matrix feel of 'movable type printing,' and when switching to close-ups, we focused on the mechanical linkage of the bamboo slips opening and closing."

"We also need to pay attention to the synchronization between the LED floor screen and the reflection of the bamboo slips. The camera should capture the corresponding seal script characters that appear on the floor screen when the bamboo slips are opened and closed, and use a medium shot to describe them."

The broadcasters listened very carefully, or rather, they had no choice but to listen carefully.

Because the $9-per-set edited version that BOB plans to release to the market still needs Netflix's help in North America for distribution.

If we don't use matters of vital interest to control these foreign devils, it's easy for them to outwardly comply but inwardly defy us.

Lu Kuan finally emphasized to Zhao Fei, whom he had placed in the main broadcast camera position: "Old Zhao, don't be disturbed by outside factors. At crucial moments, don't look for leadership positions. There are plenty of camera positions to film important figures, and we'll edit it later."

Zhao Fei nodded firmly, knowing the heavy responsibility he carried on his shoulders.

The production team used Chinese aesthetics and philosophy to construct this gala, and Mr. Lu also gave him three major Chinese aesthetic principles for the photography and broadcast of this event.

Use white space; when changing shots, maintain a sense of breath, like the one second of silence before a scroll is unfurled.
Symmetry, using mirrored composition to enhance the sense of ritual, such as symmetrical shooting from both sides of a Tai Chi circle formation;

Metaphors convey ideas through details, such as the combination of "giant footprints" of fireworks and "Silk Road" patterns on the ground screen.

Only in this way can the artistic efforts of so many people be displayed to the world without reservation.

After the broadcast director and Zhao Fei left, Zhang Yimou, Zhang Jigang, Chen Weiya, and others were still in the waiting room, giving the actors their final instructions.

Lu Kuan was the only one left in the Bird's Nest's general director's control room.

He replied to his girlfriend's message, then walked to the window and looked at the Bird's Nest, which was now in an uproar.

The 91,000 seats had transformed into a surging sea of ​​light, and the glow sticks waved by the audience were like dandelions scattered by the wind, rising and falling in the night.

The Olympics provide this future film master with a world-class stage, where billions of people around the world will enjoy his masterpiece through live performances, broadcasts, and replays.

Fifteen thousand actors!

A budget of 8.31 million RMB!

Filming took more than three years, starting from the bidding process in 2005!

It brings together the world's top directors, technicians, visual effects experts, stage designers, philosophers, writers, and composers!

That's how we came to have this epic "film" that embodies the highest level of Chinese aesthetics and philosophical thought!
At this moment, Lu Kuan stands at the forefront of the times, and what surges in his chest is not just his heartbeat, but the roar of five thousand years of civilization crashing against the banks!

He could feel the resonance transmitted through the glass in his palm; it was the pulse of the nation supported by 90,000 hands, a harmony between bronze chimes and quantum chips in the historical dimension.

The pre-show performance, which lasted for more than an hour, came to an end.

At 7:50 a.m., world leaders and IOC President Jacques Rogge entered the stadium, and the Bird's Nest seemed to instantly transform into a boiling furnace.

Suddenly, a surge of people appeared in the student formation in the northeast corner, a torrent of red T-shirts that rushed like lava.

Cheers, mixed with Cantonese and Hokkien, erupted from the viewing area for compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Children from the disaster area stood on tiptoe and waved their glow sticks in their little hands, turning them into a shimmering galaxy.

At the same time, time zones around the world are connected by the same beam of light:
A girl in a kimono bites a takoyaki skewer in front of a giant screen in Ginza, Tokyo.

In a café in Montmartre, Paris, an artist with a mohawk suddenly puts down his absinthe.
Beneath the Nasdaq screen in Times Square, New York, Wall Street elites loosened their ties and looked up in amazement while waiting at a traffic light;
On the rooftop of a favela in Rio de Janeiro, barefoot teenagers excitedly gather around an old-fashioned television set.

Even in the Gaza Strip, where a temporary ceasefire has been reached, on a balcony half-shaved off by artillery fire, a mother wearing a headscarf quietly adjusted the angle of her satellite dish so that her children could see the smokeless fireworks for the first time.

At 7:59, the circular screen on the top of the Bird's Nest stadium suddenly went out, plunging the entire stadium into darkness. More than 90,000 pairs of eyes turned to the center of the field, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.

In the stands, Liu Yifei couldn't help but grip Zhang Chunru's wrist tightly, as if she could hear the booming of her own pulse resonating with the countdown timer!
The first thing to pierce the darkness was Cai Guo-Qiang's fireworks, which circled the edge of the Bird's Nest before transforming into a golden fireball that struck the sundial on the LED screen in the center of the stadium.

This ritual artifact, which had been dormant for three thousand years, was lit up, and at this moment, the mighty lion of the East opened its giant eyes!
The gnomon vibrates, and the light spots wander, illuminating the two thousand and eight vessels surrounding it. The coiled dragon patterns awaken in the deep blue LED light strip, as if the ritual vessels used by the Zhou emperor to entertain the feudal lords have been reborn from the underground palace.

Boom!
The first strike of the drum shattered the chaos like Pangu splitting the primordial chaos with his axe.

Immediately, two thousand and eight silver-armored arms swung down simultaneously, their muscles bulging like the undulating spine of a dragon.

Each jar weighs over sixty catties, and its surface is covered with Qin Chuan cowhide that has been tanned a hundred times. Soldiers use their palms as mallets to strike the center, and the sound waves, carrying the ancient tune of the Analects, rise to the sky: "Friends—come from afar—!"

The 2008 soldiers perfectly followed the director's instructions to wear smiles, and after a performance, they suddenly stood still, like bronze terracotta warriors who had been frozen in place.

This deliberate pause is a carefully designed "breathing" effect on Lu Kuan's character.

Viewers around the world held their breath as the silver light shimmered on the surface of the vessel, and the number "60" appeared in both Chinese and Arabic numerals on the opposite rectangular array.

At the same time, silhouettes of the twenty-four solar terms began to appear in various shapes under the soldiers' feet, one of the major improvements compared to the previous life.

The audience at the Bird's Nest seemed to have been hit by a bullet, collectively falling into a brief silence, before erupting into a deafening cheer from all 90,000 people.

In Europe and North America, some presenters who had been discussing human rights issues during the Olympics suddenly fell silent.

This magnificent and grand Eastern aesthetic is beyond their comprehension given their limited vision and historical background.

Accompanied by the countdown cheers of "10! 9! 8! 7!...", everyone at this moment became a speck of dust in the wave of sound, trembling, swaying, and being reshaped in the bronze echoes of Chinese civilization.

Quentin in a Los Angeles bar;

Ryuichi Sakamoto and Takeshi Kitano in the stands;

Martin Scorsese in his New York studio;
The Coen brothers narrowly defeated Lu Xun at this year's Oscars;

Almost all established directors from China, Japan, and South Korea watched this scene with deep emotion.

What appears as a spectacle to the average viewer is transformed in their eyes into a masterpiece that would be etched in history based solely on its opening scene.

On the Fårö Island in Sweden, Bergman, 88, had just woken from his afternoon nap. He sat in a wicker chair in a wooden cabin, his withered fingers unconsciously stroking the DVD of "History of the Sky".

As the countdown on the screen ended, images of the master directors he had once “walked through that door” flashed before his eyes.

Akira Kurosawa, Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini...

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind:
As far as artists must be rooted in their own national cultural soil is concerned, if China can produce a film master, there should be no artist in the world who can compare with him.

The lights of the Bird's Nest in front of Bergman suddenly went out again. While the lingering sound of drumming and singing still vibrated between the steel beams, the 29 giant feet had already pierced through the clouds.

They exploded in sequence with millisecond precision, one step every 2 seconds, rushing 15 kilometers from Yongdingmen through Tiananmen, through the Forbidden City, towards the Bird's Nest.

This is not fireworks, but a giant embodied in time, stepping on the 700-year-old city ridge along the central axis, imprinting the inscription "29th" into the night sky of the ancient capital.

At this moment, across the land of China, heaven and earth offer their sacrifice!

The eaves of the corner tower of the Forbidden City pierced the firelight, and the security guard behind the arrow slits stood looking up in astonishment.

An old man in the alleyway, fanning himself, pointed to the sky and murmured to his grandson.

Traffic on Chang'an Avenue came to a sudden stop, and the taxi driver leaned out of the window to point his phone at the sky.

When the 29th step was taken and the Bird's Nest dome was re-established, the shouts of 90,000 people and the explosion of fireworks on the Olympic rings were heard simultaneously, and the central axis has become a fuse connecting the past and the present.

He Wei, the official commentator handpicked by Lu Kuan to guide the audience's emotions at the Bird's Nest stadium, was extremely excited at this moment:
"Friends, this is the romance of the Chinese people! It is the romance of a rich history! It is the romance of a brilliant civilization!"

From the marble stadiums of Athens to the glazed tiles of the Forbidden City, from Pierre de Coubertin's dream to the "Three Questions about the Olympics" in Tianjin Youth magazine.

"The century-long journey of the Chinese nation has finally culminated in a golden imprint on the heavens tonight; this is the echo of our century-long journey!"

"Everything that has truly been walked will leave an indelible mark in time!"

Listening to He Wei's commentary, Liu Yifei and Zhang Chunru in the stands shouted themselves hoarse, and even Liu Xiaoli, who was usually dignified, lost control of her expression with excitement.

Even though Xiao Liu had seen the rehearsal, the previously kept-secret giant footprint fireworks and the top-notch stage effects with "all special effects turned on" still left her breathless.

Tonight's opening ceremony is destined to steal the attention and focus of all viewers—

When the 29th footprint exploded in the sky above the Bird's Nest, it sparkled like fireworks in the center of the stadium, and then miraculously coalesced on the ground to form the five rings.

The audience knew it was an LED image, but as the auspicious Dunhuang flying apsaras flew through the arena, the five rings on the ground seemed to slowly rise up!

Liu Yifei is an expert in wire stunts. Before she could even take a few more photos of the graceful and stable movements of the flying fairies in the air, she was stunned by the five rings rising in the middle of the venue!

Countless Western viewers murmured "God" at this moment, but unfortunately, their God seemed to be immersed in the Eastern aesthetics that combined technology and culture.

No time for him to care.

This effect was achieved by Lu Kuan using Barco's holographic projection technology, and it is also a typical improvement in the closer integration of the Olympics and technology in this era.

As the Olympic rings soared into the sky, fireworks burst forth beneath the Bird's Nest stadium, illuminating the entire sky.

Beneath the dazzling fireworks, Lin Miaoke stood on the red carpet, her clear voice resounding throughout the Bird's Nest stadium:

The five-star red flag flutters in the wind, and the song of victory rings out loud and clear.

Sing praises to our beloved motherland, as she marches towards prosperity and strength!

At this moment, the Bird's Nest and the entire land of China were resounding with this second national anthem!

The five-star red flag slowly rose in the center of the Bird's Nest, and the cheers of the Chinese people in the stadium turned into a torrent, carrying the melody of "Singing for the Motherland" into the sky.

The clear, bright voice of the Chinese girl was like a beam of light, piercing through the shadow of national humiliation in modern times, along with the fireworks in the sky!

Why is the Beijing Olympics called the "Centennial Olympics"?
In 1908, students from Nankai University published three thought-provoking questions about the Olympics in the magazine *Tianjin Youth*:
We are the great and glorious China!

When can we send athletes to the Olympics?

When will we be able to win an Olympic gold medal?
When will the Olympics be held?

After returning from his trip to Europe in 1909, educator Zhang Boling proclaimed the Olympic spirit to the Chinese people and asserted:

"The day the Olympics are held will be the day China takes off!"
The camera pans across the stands, where high-ranking leaders are singing, veterans of the War of Resistance Against Japan are singing, compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are singing, and brothers from all 56 ethnic groups are singing.

Several elderly people in the VIP section of the viewing platform were also singing—

Academician Yuan Longping recalled the natural hybrid rice plant he discovered in the paddy field during the famine of 1961. His hunched back under the scorching sun finally straightened up. Today, every grain of rice is full of the confidence that 1.3 billion people can hold their rice bowls firmly.
Academician Huang Xuhua recalled the nuclear submarine sketch he drew on an abacus in 1958 when he was living in anonymity. The wanderer who had not returned home for thirty years heard the waves of the Bohai Bay resonating with the sound of the Bird's Nest.

Academician Sun Jiadong recalled the blizzard night before the launch of "Dongfanghong-1" in 1970, when the screwdrivers frozen on the Jiuquan launch pad have now turned into countless stars that have fallen and twinkled among the steel frames of the Bird's Nest.

In a certain place in Beiping, the 97-year-old academician Qian Xuesen, on his sickbed, struggled to sit up and sang "Ode to the Motherland" with reddened eyes.

He will never forget what he was thinking the moment he stepped off the plane in 1955—

I want to dedicate the rest of my life to my country. If foreigners can do it, why can't Chinese people?

There's also Lu Kuan, who holds a walkie-talkie in the command room.

He is just a film director, and this is the only way he can contribute his meager strength to the journey of national rejuvenation, attempting to gradually establish the discourse power of Chinese culture on the cultural front.

The tears welling up in their eyes at this moment are the boundless emotions and pride surging in the hearts of those who have traveled through time.

In the stands, Zhang Chunru, who was next to Xiao Liu, was already in tears.

Her clear and gentle eyes gazed at this historical sky, feeling fortunate to be able to witness the grand event of her motherland in her lifetime.

In the night sky of the ancient capital, behind every dazzling firework, it seems as if "she" from a parallel universe is watching over him from heaven.

Thank you for walking this path in this life; you deserve all the good things in this world.

The countdown has ended, the fireworks display has ended, and the flag-raising ceremony has ended.

The first half of the 2008 Beijing Olympics began in this frenzied atmosphere.

A beam of blue light pierced the darkness, like Pangu's axe splitting the heavens and earth, striking the center of the bird's nest.

A giant parchment-colored scroll slowly unfolds along the central axis. On a fluorescent white canvas 147 meters long and 27 meters wide, a drop of virtual ink falls from the dome, spreading and wandering under the gaze of 9 pairs of eyes.

The ink marks transformed into undulating mountains and blurred into rushing rivers.

The dancer, dressed in black with wrists suspended, uses her feet as brushes to tread the waves and sing, and where the wind sweeps through her sleeves, the green mountains and rivers are layered and blurred in the flashes of light.

Suddenly, the brushstrokes shifted dramatically, and the Great Wall of Beacon Fire rose from the ink, its reddish-brown seeping from the cracks in the bricks, like undried blood and tears.

The audience in the stands could hardly believe their eyes. Those who had seen "Aftershock" (or "Tangshan Earthquake"), both Chinese and foreign, would likely recall the opening scene of the film, which unfolded like a scroll painting.

The scroll before them seemed to have come to life, unfolding the genetic code of five thousand years of civilization under the gaze of ninety thousand people.

The breaths of the audience collectively froze. This was not a miracle presented by technology, but a rebirth of an ancient civilization in the digital age.

In this part, Lu Kuan cut out the two dance programs from the previous life, "Summer Breeze" and "Rain and Mist," and strengthened the interpretation of the connotation of Eastern aesthetics, allowing Shen Wei to make a more compact arrangement of ink painting dance.

Because the modern part of the second half of the opening ceremony is more substantial, it is not afraid that the ancient part of the first half will be too amazing, and it can fully exert itself to shock the eyes of foreign audiences!

So when the dancers used their bodies as brushes to depict the layered mountains and valleys of "A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains" on the fluorescent white scroll, Western audiences experienced for the first time what "spirit and vitality" meant.

In the fusion of pixels and ink painting, the blank space in Song Dynasty landscape paintings becomes the most luxurious special effect, with each blank space revealing the genes of civilization.

Stunned – that's the reality for the more than two billion viewers around the world watching in real time.

This kind of beauty, which runs through human history and is engraved in our genes, evokes a sense of heartfelt admiration and recognition even if they cannot understand it.

But the prerequisite is that it needs to be depicted by artists like Lu Kuan and Zhang Yimou.

Suddenly, the dull thud of mechanisms meshing echoed across the field, and 897 bronze steles burst forth from the ground! The tops of the steles suddenly opened like lotus petals, revealing two thousand human faces.

The soldiers hid inside the three-meter-high movable type mold, using their flesh and blood to lift thousands of pounds of bronze.

The formation rose and fell like waves with the recitation of the Analects, and the character "和" (harmony) appeared three times:

Seal script has strong bones, clerical script has sinewy muscles, and regular script has a soul.

The moment the last "and" character was frozen in time, all the molds collapsed in a clamor, and the lights went out abruptly.

Then came the breathtaking beauty of flowing robes and the wonders of traditional opera!

The Kunqu flute played a mournful tune, and four carved beam stages emerged from all directions, their wind chimes shattering the moonlight that filled the theater.

A Peking Opera martial arts performer tumbles down from a three-zhang-high platform, his banner sweeping across the LED starry sky.

"Huh?" Liu Yifei on the stage looked in surprise at the sudden change in the center of the arena!
Iris Chang asked curiously, "What's wrong, Qianqian?"

"They... Wow! So that's how it is!" Xiao Liu was completely stunned. How did they come up with that?
Liu Xiaoli and Zhang Chunru looked at each other in surprise, and then Liu Yifei explained in amazement: "Originally, a shadow puppet show was cut, so there was no shadow puppet element in the entire ancient part of the art performance."

"But look at them now, they've erected a rotatable, double-sided transparent screen in the middle of the stage. By adjusting the light transmission, it's just like the leather in the middle of a shadow puppet."

"The actors on this side are singing Peking Opera, while the audience on that side is seeing shadow puppets."

As if to confirm Liu Yifei's words, the stage in the middle of the stage suddenly began to rotate slowly, and the entire audience saw the two national treasures that were "one body, two lives".

Is this the artist's imagination?
Even Xiao Liu, who lived with him, couldn't help but marvel at such a brilliant idea.

She had introduced this LED technology to her boyfriend at New York Fashion Week, and unexpectedly, it was put to good use here.

After a smooth transition, the ground scroll suddenly turned azure blue, and waves burst forth from the holographic image.

As Zheng He's treasure ship cleaved through the waves, the audience looked closely and discovered that the ship's hull was actually a human ladder formed by two thousand warriors in green robes.

Using their backs as decks and their arms as masts, they simulated the turbulence of giant waves in the "Ocean" symphony.

The ancient section features a plethora of captivating performances, ranging from ink painting to opera, from singing while striking earthen jars to twin shadow puppets.

Based on its forward-looking perspective and technological application, Lu Kuan brought changes to the Olympic opening ceremony, making the already stunning first half even more dazzling.

Takeshi Kitano, who seemed to be on a rush of adrenaline in the stands, was now lost in thought amidst the jubilant crowd.

Among the foreign directors watching the opening ceremony today, if there is one who can more deeply understand and appreciate the Chinese aesthetics in this grand event, then...

That has to be him.

Takeshi Kitano is fascinated by Chinese culture. His novel *Zatoichi* draws inspiration from the chivalrous core of Chinese martial arts, and the imagery of lotus flowers in a water tank during the rain subtly reflects the Eastern philosophy of "cause and effect."

He is a director influenced by East Asian Confucian culture, and his artistic achievements have been recognized by the master Akira Kurosawa.

On his deathbed in 1998, Akira Kurosawa wrote to Takeshi Kitano: "The future of Japanese cinema is in your hands. You are the only one who can carry on my legacy."

But what does Takeshi Kitano think when he looks at the works of his contemporary, Lu Kuan, who has been nurtured by five thousand years of culture?
Great skill appears clumsy, yet possesses a myriad of forms.

Uphold the orthodox while employing the unorthodox; technique advances to the level of principle!
The pursuit of skill leading to the Way is the lifelong goal of all East Asian artists, writers, tea masters, and even martial artists influenced by Confucian culture.

What Western director Bergman called "pushing open the door to the master" in the context of East Asian culture is the leap from "craftsmanship" to "mastery".

Before today, Takeshi Kitano, on whom Akira Kurosawa had placed high hopes, did not have a deep understanding of the situation, while Bergman's assessment of Lu Kuan was that he had already reached out and touched the door.

Even though Takeshi Kitano had some understanding at this moment, he helplessly realized that neither he nor the directors of Peninsula could overcome the differences in the depth of their cultural origins.

Even if he didn't want to admit it, he had to acknowledge that China held an extremely dominant position in East Asian history and culture. No matter how grand Kurosawa's *Ran* may be, it was ultimately a borrowed fire, an adaptation of Shakespeare.
Even his own Zatoichi, however sharp, is nothing more than a bonsai-style pruning of Bushido aesthetics.

Japanese artists, constrained by geographical boundaries and the resulting national character, continue to explore inward.

Yukio Mishima's resolute act of seppuku and Tadao Ando's solitary concrete works are both obsessive pursuits of the "small".

And his Chinese friend has already visibly begun to touch upon the level of "Tao," just like the stunning first half of this opening ceremony—

A single utterance from her embroidered mouth unfolds a long scroll of a thousand-year-old civilization.

An island nation's structure cannot accommodate a large river.

How can the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms compare to Mount Tai?

The Bird's Nest was plunged into darkness once again, and Takeshi Kitano, who was well-versed in Chinese culture, couldn't help but feel a renewed sense of anticipation.

If we consider the two halves as Chinese Song Dynasty poetry, the first half is already so magnificent and awe-inspiring, so how about the second half?
Can modern China present an equally vigorous and promising future?
Standing in front of the screen in the control room, the chief director Lu Kuan breathed a slight sigh of relief. Miraculously, the LED screen did not show black blocks "as expected" at the end of the first half, but the track was slightly stuck.

Fortunately, there were regular staff members on hand to handle the situation manually. These staff members were well disguised, and no clues could be found unless the camera was zoomed in.

Looking at the 90,000-seat stadium, now silent after the climax, he felt a little nervous.

Because the second half is his biggest test.

He overturned almost all the modern segments of the program, removing the monotonous piano playing and moving Tai Chi to the first half.

The second half was the only part of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in his previous life that was truly criticized for its "strong start but weak finish," and it was also the core task he was involved in in this life.

Special effects and film technology are his strengths, and Lu Kuan hopes that his modern cultural performance, which incorporates cutting-edge technology, can create a narrative balance with the first half of the show.

In the deep darkness of the Bird's Nest, a faint, pure blue-white light shines in the deepest part of the venue.

Then, the second point, the third point... like stars awakened by an invisible gravitational force, thousands of points of light bloomed one after another!

Those were actors wearing specially designed spacesuits. In absolute darkness, the miniature LED lights on their bodies outlined the contours of their bodies, yet quickly transcended the limits of the human form.

The light spots moved, converged, and flowed, and on the huge LED screen on the ground, it looked as if the spiral arms of the Milky Way were slowly rotating.

Liu Yifei, standing in the stands, explained to Zhang Chunru beside her that this was a creative variation of the LED dress, when suddenly the Big Dipper appeared in the middle of the venue.

The clear, spoon-shaped pattern composed of light dots shines brightly, like the "eyes" of Chinese aerospace engineers exploring the heavens.

As the background music begins, strings and synthesizers intertwine to create an ethereal, cosmic feel.

In front of the television, CCTV commentator Zhou Tao spoke in a deep voice:

"Dear viewers, this is 'Dream of the Galaxy,' which showcases the spirit of modern Chinese aerospace. At this moment, the Bird's Nest is writing an epic of light."

"What 90,000 pairs of eyes witnessed was not only the combination of science and art, but also a contemporary echo of the Chinese nation's millennia-long exploration of the heavens!"

"Look! The torrent of light is outlining the totem of the Big Dipper. From Zhang Heng's armillary sphere to the Chang'e lunar exploration project, from Guo Shoujing's astronomical observatory to the 'BeiDou' global network, the Chinese people have never stopped their desire to understand the universe."

"Recently, the China National Space Administration announced the Shenzhou-7 launch mission next month. Chinese astronauts will conduct their first spacewalk, making China the third country in the world to independently master spacewalk technology."

As Zhou Tao narrated, a beam of silver light pierced the night sky—

That was a virtual projection of the Shenzhou-7 rocket, rising from the edge of the field, its exhaust trail leaving a brilliant trail of light.

The audience erupted in gasps, as if they were witnessing the actual launch that was about to take off in September.

As the rocket ascended to mid-air, the discarded booster sections suddenly exploded, turning into countless stars.

At the same time, the ground LED array lit up, and 3000 performers wearing specially made spacesuits embedded with miniature LED lights descended like a galaxy.

Their arms moved in unison, and the lights flickered like breathing, instantly outlining a spiral nebula, which then reformed into Earth's orbit.

The "space capsule" suspended by wires slowly descended, the hatch opened, and an "astronaut" leaped out into the air, completing a spacewalk in a weightless state.

In the center of the venue, a giant globe model with a diameter of 15 meters slowly rose up, its surface projecting in real time the route of the 2008 Olympic torch relay, the trajectory of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, and the majestic Three Gorges Dam.

When the "astronaut" touched the Earth after his spacewalk, a spark suddenly appeared, and the Olympic flame projected on the screen instantly burned from the Acropolis of Athens to the summit of Mount Everest, and then meandered along the Great Wall to the Bird's Nest.

shock!
To the astonishment of all the spectators, the Earth in the center of the arena was slowly rotating, growing larger and larger! Its diameter quickly exceeded 25 meters before reaching its limit.

"Oh my God!" and "Incredible!" in different languages ​​echoed in the stands of the Bird's Nest, as heads of state from various countries stared in disbelief at what they were seeing!
Unlike the water projection in Athens four years ago, this project uses high-lumen DLP projection technology jointly developed by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, Butian Pictures, and Barco.

With a brightness of up to 12000 lumens and a specially made aluminum foil reflective film, it can achieve a light reflectivity of over 85% in open spaces.

This represents a 71% increase in brightness compared to the NH-7 model used at the Athens Olympics, effectively overcoming the light pollution problem in the Bird's Nest's open-air environment.

Coincidentally, although it didn't rain in Beiping today, the air humidity was high, which inadvertently enhanced the reflection of the light projection.

It can be considered a blessing in disguise.

As the Olympic torch logo passed through each country and continent on the Earth projection, foreign spectators of different skin colors immediately stood up and cheered.

High-lumen projection technology creates not only visual spectacles, but also the magic of eliminating geographical barriers.

As Disney ABC anchor Baldwin said during his hosting at this moment:

Even though this holographic projection technology looks rather rough, as the projection area is enlarged, the graininess and pixelation become quite pronounced.

However, when technology and art converge on the projected Earth, and when exclamations in different languages ​​resonate in the stands of 90,000 people, this performance has transcended national boundaries and become a vessel for the shared emotions of all humankind.

The Olympic slogan "One World, One Dream" resonates powerfully at this moment!

He Wei's narration remained as passionate as ever: "Friends, at this moment, this rotating blue planet is carrying the most magnificent resonance in the history of human civilization at a speed of 0.5 meters per second."

At the same time, a 100-meter-long mechanical frame resembling a high-speed train carriage rose in the center of the venue, with 200 actors playing the roles of passengers, their costumes changing color via LEDs to represent different identities, such as engineers, farmers, Olympic volunteers, and foreign tourists.

"What you are seeing now is the next program that will seamlessly follow, titled 'The Era of Galloping'."

The holographic projection focused on the ancient civilization of the East, and the route of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed ​​Railway slowly emerged under the control of dynamic depth of field.

The cheers from the stands suddenly grew louder, and the bewildered foreign tourists started chatting and asking questions, while many others pulled out the Olympic gift bags provided by the organizers from their seats.

It contains souvenirs, maps, and explanations of each program's themes, techniques, and cultural connotations, helping viewers better understand Chinese culture.

Western audiences were amazed as they looked at the performance that was linked with the giant screen projection inside the arena, realizing that it was a high-speed train in China with a speed of up to 350 kilometers per hour.

German broadcaster ARD television, with host Hans speaking with a slightly sarcastic tone, said: "China has now become the fifth country in the world to master more than 300 high-speed rail technologies. In 2004, they ended their cooperation with German and Japanese companies and began the process of localizing high-speed train production. Obviously, they have already achieved certain results."

In the same program performance, CCTV broadcast it from a different perspective: "Friends, in 2004, when my country was bidding for high-speed rail, Siemens of Germany offered a high price of 3.5 million yuan for a single train."

"Under the strong leadership of the Party and the government, China's high-speed rail has moved from the era of importing and assembling to the era of independent research and development, with a localization rate of up to 85%!"

All the viewers in front of their televisions watched as Westerners cheered for the stunning performance in the second half of the opening ceremony and marveled at the great achievements of their countrymen.

I feel incredibly proud.

He Wei's tone remained high-pitched:
"The silver Fuxing bullet train is piercing the morning mist! From Zhang Qian's camel bells to the high-speed rail whistles, we are using 1318 kilometers of seamless steel rails to measure a new speed for five thousand years of civilization!"

"As the Fuxing bullet train recedes into the distance, the concrete dam of the Three Gorges Dam rises from the ground in a holographic projection. This 1.8 million cubic meter volume of concrete embodies the great man's long-cherished wish 70 years ago to 'create a placid lake in the high gorges'!"

"Friends, what's being built in the center of the venue, dressed in LED skirts, is the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which officially opened to traffic on May 1st this year!"

"This 36-kilometer-long cross-sea dragon was built with 6600 steel pipe piles driven into the raging East China Sea. The vertical error of each pile foundation is no more than 3 centimeters, just like the precision of the compass guidance on Zheng He's treasure ship!"

Since the start of the second half, the senior leader in the stands has been smiling the whole time.

From manned spaceflight to the Three Gorges Dam, from high-speed rail to cross-sea bridges and the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The great infrastructure of modern China was presented to the world in such a surreal way, through top-notch lighting and art, showcasing the Chinese nation's ambition and aspirations for progress.

This is not a simple list of achievements, but an epic of an ancient civilization's leap to modernity.

Those fields that were once monopolized by the West are now being redefined by the Chinese with reinforced concrete.

Those words printed in the Five-Year Plan are now transforming into a series of speeding trains.

Seeing this, Lu Kuan in the command room finally felt relieved.

Regarding the opening ceremony, which was the most important "film" of his life:

If the ancient portion of the performance was filmed for Western audiences to let them know about the history and majesty of the great Chinese nation;

The achievements of the modern section are specifically designed for the Chinese people.

In today's world, where arrogance prevails and the Chinese people lack self-confidence, a spiritual and cultural baptism and inspiration are needed.

Those parasites who constantly whine and offer self-reflection, and who love to preach that the moon is rounder abroad, take a good look!

How could such a great achievement be born amidst your constant talk of "technological inferiority complex," "institutional skepticism," and "civilizational nihilism"?

A vibrant and positive spirit is always the deepest driving force for the revival of civilization.

History has long proven that the rise of any nation requires a "perilous leap" in its spiritual development.

Contemporary China is completing this spiritual leap with even greater momentum:
Transform the profound heritage of a thousand-year-old civilization into a pioneering spirit for the future;
The collective memory of modern humiliation is transformed into the spiritual fuel for self-reliance and self-improvement.

Just as Iris Chang said, each generation has its own mission.

As one of the millions of cultural workers, and as a Chinese person, Lu Kuan naturally shoulders this mission!
However, in the process of fulfilling their mission, their personal fates became intertwined with the tides of the times, bringing them enormous wealth and immense prestige.

Whether it's seizing the initiative to control public opinion or the arduous pursuit of becoming a film master, he cannot escape this mission and must be rooted in this soil.

Today, having poured his heart and soul into creating the first and second halves of Lu Kuan, he has made his artistic life resonate with the pulse of national rejuvenation.

This fusion is by no means a simple matter of political correctness, but rather an artist's profound decoding of the genes of civilization, and a vivid contemporary interpretation of the Chinese cultural tradition of "unity of knowledge and action".

However, this Olympics is just the beginning, and it is far from enough.

The road is long and far away, and I will search up and down.

Two of the three programs in the Modern China section have already been completed, but the audience is still thrilled.

While the magnificent display of five thousand years of civilization in the first half was captivating, every moment in the second half where technology and art intertwined deconstructed the conventional wisdom that "modernity equals Westernization."

Chinese viewers perceived a rare moment of equality in the dialogue between civilizations from the wide eyes and unconsciously leaning forward of the Westerners.

This experience of being watched closely by the world is more effective than any grand narrative in solidifying the sense of reality and pride in the "rise of a great power."

The first half is the glory and legacy left by our ancestors;
The second half is the miracle that every Chinese person is creating.

It can be said that, with the entire Olympic Games opening ceremony having reached this point, Lu Kuan, as the chief director, has truly achieved his goal.

The final program in the modern segment was a transitional piece called "Olympic Silhouettes," which shifted the narrative focus from a macro perspective of national achievements to the ordinary people who contributed to the Olympics.

Hundreds of 1:100 scale video cubes rose from the center of the Bird's Nest stadium, forming a world map!

Each area displays a different scene through miniature projections.

In a Manhattan apartment in New York, a blonde little girl tiptoes to stick homemade Olympic rings all over the window;
In a Nigerian slum, barefoot teenagers draw a running track with cinders on a football field.
In a hot spring hotel in Hokkaido, an elderly man with white hair unfolds a hand-drawn calligraphy of "Go Beiping!" in front of the camera;
This video was collected and submitted through the official website of the Beijing Olympics. At this moment, different skin colors and languages ​​intertwine in the Bird's Nest, forming a super-large-scale polyphonic and split-screen montage.

The giant background screen suddenly shattered into a torrent of pixels, with the flags of 214 countries around the world turning into points of light, surging and converging along the internet topology.

The concept of pacing is crucial; even a film needs to have a well-structured narrative rhythm to avoid keeping the audience on edge for too long.

Therefore, considering the grand climax of the ignition later, the finale of the cultural performance began with gentle music and entered a relatively calm rhythm.

The more than two billion viewers who were stunned throughout the performance were fortunate to be able to take a break from their excitement at the end of the show.

As everyone watched, the LED matrix in the center of the venue began to change, displaying smiling faces of children of different skin colors.

For a grand event like the Olympics, which represents peace, it is politically correct to conclude with a narrative of global unity and friendship.

Therefore, using children as a universal language to defuse the confrontational nature of political discourse has become a common approach.

When children from the Syrian war appear in the same frame as teenagers in a Swiss ski resort, human empathy transcends all ideological barriers.

In the previous life, the opening ceremony smiley face was made by holding a giant portrait, and the final result was quite creepy.

In this iteration, the world map on the Bird's Nest LED matrix has transformed into a heart, showcasing the cuteness of children who submitted their work from around the world.

The African boy's smile, missing a front tooth, was still stained with mango bits, while the Nordic girl's blonde braids were dotted with unmelted snowflakes.

The most touching moment was when a child from Sichuan Province stood in the center of the frame, holding up his crookedly written words with colored pencils: "Thank you, world."

Amidst thunderous applause from 90,000 people inside the Bird's Nest, the lights dimmed, and the theme song "Forever Friends" began to play.

Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman performed songs in both Chinese and English on a platform symbolizing the global village, their passionate and lingering performance leaving a lasting impression.

With this, the first and second halves of the cultural performance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics came to a close, and athletes from various countries began to enter the stadium.

The Greek delegation entered first, following tradition, followed by other countries and regions according to the simplified Chinese characters, with the host country, China, entering last.

Each guide was dressed in a formal suit with blue and white porcelain patterns and held a uniquely designed sign with the country's name engraved in seal script.

Yao Ming served as the flag bearer, flanked by Lin Hao, a young earthquake hero. This arrangement caused a stir among the audience. The athletes' red suits, inspired by the colors of the national flag, resembled flowing flames against the backdrop of the LED screen.

However, the athletes' entrance ceremony was somewhat tedious for a global audience who had just watched a spectacular, non-stop "movie."

So, during this two-hour and eight-minute period, viewers who were still unable to calm down turned on their computers and interacted on social media.

A user on the Japanese forum 2ch commented: "I think director Lu Kuan's composition is comparable to that of Akira Kurosawa! The mechanical rhythm of those movable type printings is like modernizing the armor formations in 'Ran.' It's a real pity that no local director has been able to develop our cultural treasure, Ukiyo-e, and all they know how to do is make samurai films."

A Naver blog post from South Korea: The modular thinking behind movable type printing clearly borrows from Korean metal movable type! However, turning King Sejong's wisdom into a performance shows some foresight. I truly hope that no one is a citizen of our great Korean kingdom, or that there isn't a single Korean woman who could make him submit? Even becoming a Korean son-in-law would be good!
French netizens commented: "The Silk Dance is more elegant than the Moulin Rouge. Lu Kuan has incorporated the timeless quality of 'In Search of Lost Time' into digital art. We look forward to him filling the last remaining jewel of Europe's three major awards, the Palme d'Or!"
British netizens: I really want to shove BBC presenter Ed's head into the toilet. Watching such a beautiful gala, he talked about politics the whole time! With such a magnificent opening ceremony performance before us, let's have a moment of silence for the people in charge of the 2012 London Organizing Committee, or should you consider asking Lu to be the chief director again?
Lu Kuan, who is the subject of much discussion among movie fans and audiences worldwide, was naturally unaware of all this.

He was in the command center, making the most of the two hours it would be before the athletes entered the stadium to conduct a final confirmation of the ignition.

The drone ignition has been in preparation for three years. This detailed instruction is simply to put our minds at ease and to put everyone else's minds at ease.

At 11:50 p.m., legendary athlete Xu Haifeng carried the Olympic torch into the Bird's Nest, igniting a final burst of passion throughout the stadium.

Twenty-four years ago, it was this figure who, with a single shot at the Prado shooting range, shattered China's record of never winning an Olympic gold medal.

The roar of 90,000 people swept up like a tsunami, and countless flashlights and glow sticks swayed in the audience, converging into a flowing, dazzling galaxy.

This cluster of flames started in Athens, crossed Mount Everest, was robbed by drug traffickers in London and Paris, changed its route in San Francisco, and finally arrived at the Bird's Nest tonight.

The outcry from the Chinese people at this moment is a collective release of their frustration over the 130-day, 13.7-kilometer arduous journey.

When the torch finally blazed in front of their own doorstep, all the resentment against injustice turned into a deafening roar. This was not only the transmission of the spirit of sports, but also the tempering and rebirth of a nation's dignity.

As midnight approached, more than two billion viewers around the world were focused on the final ignition ceremony.

Because of the symbolic significance of the Olympic flame, and because the lighting of the flame is usually the grand finale of the Olympic Games opening ceremony, it has a strong sense of ritual and a lasting memory.

Ten years from now, no one may remember the details of the cultural performance at the Beijing Olympics, but the lighting ceremony will be forever etched in history.

Television hosts around the world are speculating and discussing it, because this is the opening ceremony information that the Beijing Olympics had never revealed in the past three or four years.

Each drone rehearsal was held at the Nanyuan Air Force Base, which was heavily guarded, and giant balloons were also raised nearby to obstruct the view.

Reporters seeking to uncover secrets would never dare approach such a restricted military area.

Amidst deafening cheers, Xu Haifeng handed the torch to Gao Min, followed by Li Xiaoshuang, Zhan Xugang, Zhang Jun, Chen Zhong, and others.

These athletes cover shooting, diving, gymnastics, weightlifting, badminton, taekwondo, volleyball and other sports in which China has an advantage. The time span is from 1984 to 2004, which fully outlines the process of the Chinese Olympic delegation from "zero breakthrough" to "comprehensive rise".

The roar inside the Bird's Nest stadium was irrepressible until Li Ning took the torch from Sun Jinfang.

The classic moments from previous years are still vivid in my mind:

In Barcelona in 1992, disabled archer Rebollo shot a burning arrow at the torch stand 70 meters away, piercing the heart with the arrow.
In Atlanta, 1996, boxing champion Muhammad Ali lit the torch with trembling hands;

In Sydney in 2000, the torch platform rose from the water, creating a spectacular sight of a fire being lit underwater.

What about Beiping?
What about director Lu Kuan, who has already completely captivated the world in the previous cultural performance?
Audiences at the scene and around the world are eagerly anticipating how the Olympic flame will be lit in Beiping in a breathtaking way.

What puzzled them was that after receiving the torch, Li Ning calmly walked around the stadium once, but attentive viewers would have noticed that the lights in the stadium were gradually dimming.

In the darkness, the drone team was already in position.

Wearing a headset, Li Ning received the instruction and ran towards the middle of the now completely dark Bird's Nest stadium while waving his hand.

Lu Kuan's deep voice came: "Make sure the torch fits snugly into the device, with the flame facing outwards."

"understand!"

Having practiced countless times, Li Ning found the "phoenix head" of the 1500 drones and carefully inserted the auspicious cloud torch into the special "phoenix beak" shaped device.

The number of 1500 sorties represents the maximum that can be achieved after three years of dedicated research and development, utilizing signal equipment laid during the construction of the Bird's Nest stadium, applying ground shortwave radios, and employing Huawei's latest independent frequency hopping technology.

Li Ning nervously completed everything, but the spotlight stopped shining on him, and the entire Bird's Nest stadium was plunged into darkness.

The audience could only see a tiny, pale blue flame in the center of the Bird's Nest stadium, barely visible in the vast arena, as if it would be extinguished by a gust of wind.

What is this going to do?
"It's lit! The LEDs are lit!"

Audiences around the world were delighted to see that, just like in the first half of the show, the center of the venue began to light up with LEDs and gradually transformed into a giant phoenix.

Of course, in the eyes of foreigners, this is called a phoenix.

The torch that Li Ning just placed was hanging near the phoenix's beak, held in the mouth of this auspicious Eastern beast.

Everyone was a little disappointed; why was it LED again?
Even though the first half of the performance was so breathtaking, almost all the programs relied on LED scroll paintings, and people eventually got tired of it.

Moreover, this shouldn't be considered a road width, right?

NBC and some hosts from unfriendly foreign media outlets are already considering whether to make a scathing remark, but given the precedents, they are afraid of making a mistake and being proven wrong.

A loud bang, without warning, startled all the spectators.

Suddenly, twelve red pillars of fire erupted from the circular flame trench on the ground of the Bird's Nest, like the giant axe that split the chaos when Pangu created the world, instantly igniting the night sky.

The intense flames exploded thirty meters in the air, turning into millions of falling sparks that wove a flowing net of fire beneath the steel-framed dome.

The audience was still quite far from the center of the venue, and the cooling and recycling of the fireworks had already undergone safety tests, so no accidents were expected.

This was a warm-up before the divine bird's arrival, and also a way to use a loud noise to cover up the sound of the drone's wings taking off, thus deceiving the audience.

As the afterglow of the last firework still trembled on the steel frame of the Bird's Nest, and 90,000 pairs of eyes had not yet recovered from the shock of the starry rain, the phoenix totem on the ground LED matrix suddenly "came to life"!

Correct!
They came back to life!
The audience stared in horror, while foreign dignitaries and royalty gaped, watching a scene that seemed straight out of a movie.

The phoenix's crimson wings, which were originally integrated with the ground screen, are now being peeled off frame by frame with centimeter-level precision.

Like...

It's as if there's a giant in the Bird's Nest right now, tearing up the phoenix stickers painted on the ground and quickly making them three-dimensional!

A phoenix head composed of 1500 drones took the lead, each feather shining with the warm light of specially made LEDs, hovering three meters above the ground.

Even Liu Yifei, who had witnessed such a scene before, felt her scalp tingle. Liu Xiaoli and Zhang Chunru beside her, along with all the audience members, only then realized what was happening.
The "ground projection" that we just admired was actually a disguise for a stereoscopic matrix!

These small helicopter-like aircraft are painted in the exact same red as the LED floor screen, and when they lie still, they resemble pixels extending from a canvas.

With a slight flap of its wings, it shattered the boundary between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space.

"Dimension promotion?"

In the study of Niangziguan residential area, Liu Cixin stared at the television screen, her teacup long since cold.

The phoenix totem in the center of the Bird's Nest came to life from the two-dimensional painting, and a three-dimensional matrix of 1500 drones tore apart the boundaries between plane and space, soaring through the night sky.

This scene struck him like a bolt of lightning!
"If an object can transform from two dimensions to three dimensions, why can't it collapse from three dimensions back to two dimensions?"

He recalled the second part of "The Three-Body Problem," which he was currently writing; the dark forest theory of cosmic civilization and the deductions about technological explosion suddenly found a more powerful and concrete expression.

Dimensionality reduction attack!

Liu Cixin was so excited he was almost going crazy. For a moment he wanted to rush into the study, but he couldn't move his feet because the phoenix on the TV screen moved!

A swarm of drones, each carrying a light strip and with the Olympic flame in its beak, formed a phoenix and gradually ascended into the sky.

The aircraft stopped taking off when they were about 20 meters away from a safe signal distance and began to patrol along the edge of the Bird's Nest.

At the optimal viewing distance, tested countless times by the directing team, the RGBW four-color LED light strips on the wings of each drone were dazzling, creating an extremely beautiful effect when combined with the rhythmic rise of vermilion fireworks inside the venue!

The audience could hardly recognize what kind of mechanical formation it was.
Amidst the clear and melodious cries of the phoenix throughout the arena, it has become the true form of a divine bird reborn from the ashes.

"Mom, can Chinese people do magic tricks? How can they bring a phoenix back to life?"

"Dad! Go back and help me find some monster figurines from the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the secondhand market! China is truly incredible!"

When the phoenix first paraded to the front of the podium, the cold flame smoke bombs that Cai Guoqiang's team had prepared for the flight path came in handy. With each flap of the phoenix's wings, three sets of silver-white smoke trails spewed out from the gaps in the Bird's Nest's steel frame.

Phoenixes pass by, followed by drifting clouds.

As the crimson light feather streaks across the smoke screen, viewers can clearly see the afterimage of the "flame" flowing at the tip of the feather. This is a three-dimensional light path formed in the air by utilizing the scattering effect of smoke particles on LED light.

The audience did not understand the simulated effects of the LED light strips, nor did they understand the "outlining and painting" that the fireworks did for the Phoenix drone formation.

In their mesmerizing eyes, every feather of the phoenix seemed to breathe in the night sky, and the interweaving of silvery trails and crimson feathers created a visual magic that transcended the laws of physics.

The skilled drone operators circled the field once amidst the flowing clouds and cold flames, and then performed dives, head twists, and hovering maneuvers.

Suddenly, a "wicked wind" blew through the bird's nest!
shock!
The flame of the auspicious cloud torch has shrunk!
"Xixi! The fire is about to go out!" Liu Xiaoli's eyes were bloodshot with rage. She knew what the consequences would be if an accident happened in such a situation!
"Probably not."

Little did Liu Yifei know the truth, and the hearts of the audience, as well as those across the country and the world, were in their throats!

What if the torch gets blown out?
As if in time with the sudden change in the situation, the phoenix's clear cry suddenly turned into a mournful wail that echoed throughout the stadium, completely startling the audience into breaking out in a cold sweat.

Seeing that the mood had been sufficiently aroused, Lu Kuan, speaking over the walkie-talkie, gave a deep command: "Fly to the Torch Tower, second formation, prepare!"

At the same time, the CCTV host, who had just been lavish in his praise, also tried to cover up his mistake in a slightly flustered manner:
"Dear viewers, it seems there's a strong wind in the Bird's Nest Stadium, which is affecting the torch. We can now see the phoenix flying towards the torch tower..."

What the hell!

He Wei stared at the scene before him with bloodshot eyes, swallowed hard, and forced back the curse that was about to escape his lips!
He exchanged a glance with Zhou Tao in the studio, whose forehead was visibly covered in cold sweat.

How could this be?
The Bird's Nest stadium was completely silent. Apart from a few top leaders, even foreign dignitaries couldn't believe their eyes.

As the phoenix flew toward the torch tower, the torch it carried in its beak flickered on and off, and was almost extinguished once it entered the torch tower!
The whole country is going crazy!

There has never been a precedent in the entire history of the Olympic Games for the torch to fail to ignite!
Is Lu Kuan, who performed flawlessly throughout the entire event, destined to become a national sinner for all time?!

For the first time today, Boss Lu in the command center showed a smile.

Indeed, even amidst such a grand event and a flawless performance, he still insisted on showcasing his skills using the suspenseful narrative style of commercial films.

This was, of course, a script he had arranged.

The Olympic torch can even reach the summit of Mount Everest with its strong winds, so how could it be blown out?
The current near-annihilation is merely the effect of internal control.

High atop the torch tower on the northeast side of the Bird's Nest, more than two billion viewers around the world watched in suspense as the phoenix gradually folded its wings, seemingly trying to protect the Olympic flame that was about to be extinguished from its beak.

In an instant, the Bird's Nest's sound system erupted with a heart-wrenching lament!

First, there is a long, drawn-out harmonic on the guqin, taken from the Yu tone frequency of the Zeng Hou Yi chime bells, then mixed with the trembling tail of the erhu vibrato, and finally synthesized into a simulated lament of a hundred birds!
A heartbreaking scene unfolded: the exquisite phoenix began to wither away.

One.

Two.

The lights on the drones kept dimming as they fell into the torch tower.

At the same time, the sacred flame held in the phoenix's head surged high!

"Mom, the phoenix is ​​dying! Please bring it back!"

Countless innocent questions and expressions of sorrow echoed in the Bird's Nest and in front of the television.

It wasn't until the adult gradually came to their senses and replied with reddened eyes that they finally managed to say something.

It will not die; it is undergoing nirvana.

"The phoenix is ​​rising from the ashes!" Host He Wei could no longer suppress the trembling in his voice. He was acting like a madman, having not been informed by the production team at all!

"Dear viewers! The phoenix has not perished; it is undergoing rebirth! This is the last Eastern fable that Director Lu Kuan will tell the world!"

"Look! That phoenix made up of 1500 drones is throwing its own feathers into the sacred fire! Every LED light strip that goes out is a feather plucked from the phoenix, and every drone that falls into the torch is its blood and bones offered as a sacrifice to the flames!"

"Doesn't this resemble our nation's experience of modern humiliation? Doesn't it resemble 2008, a year of both pain and hope?"

"What fell wasn't mechanical wreckage, but gunboats sunk during the Opium War! What was burning wasn't electronic components, but the raging flames that once filled the former Mingyuan Palace!"

"Every wound on this land will be transformed into a fiery mark on the phoenix's wings, inspiring us to keep moving forward!"

"We have proven to the world through a century of struggle that a nation with five thousand years of civilization will never be defeated by hardship!"

"Like the divine phoenix, it 'gathers fragrant wood to burn itself, and is reborn from the ashes,' undergoing immense trials and tribulations to be reborn and sublimated!"

He Wei's voice choked, his Adam's apple bobbed violently, and his voice was hoarse and burning as if it had been scorched by fire:
"Aren't the three mournful cries of the phoenix before its rebirth the very same 'three questions of the Olympics' that resonated so deeply a century ago?"

"Now! We can finally hold our heads high and answer our ancestors—"

"Today, China stands tall among the nations of the world with even greater confidence!"

"With a confident leap, we have once again stood at the center of the world stage!"

"Starting with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, let the flame of this phoenix-like rebirth illuminate the future of a community with a shared future for mankind! Let the Chinese wisdom of peaceful development inject new hope into the world!"

As if to complement his shocking and heart-wrenching commentary, the audience watching the phoenix rise from the ashes with heartache had a flash of red light before their eyes!
Behind the Olympic torch tower burning brightly, the second group of drones mentioned in the walkie-talkie just took off!

It was a slightly smaller version of the Phoenix, consisting of 800 drones equipped with cold fireworks.

Its wings are no longer as magnificent as before, but they reveal the innocence and agility of a newborn chick.

As a clear phoenix cry resounded from the Bird's Nest sound system, the sound blended with the harmonics of the guqin and the children's chorus, like the ancient echo of "The phoenix cries out, on that high hill" from the Book of Songs.

The fledgling phoenix circled briefly before quietly flying away into the vast night sky.

Just as the audience, including heads of state and IOC presidents, were in awe, Cai Guoqiang’s fireworks matrix, which was installed on the roof of the Bird’s Nest, was detonated at the same time!

First, silver trails of smoke fell like a galaxy, then exploded into a dazzling display of fire in the shape of the number "2008," followed by thousands of red peony shells blooming in the low sky, making the clouds look like they were soaked in blood.

Ninety thousand spectators looked up in unison, watching the luminous phoenix fly further and further away amidst the starlight.

At this moment, the night sky of the ancient capital is simultaneously inlaid with the ancient moon and the sentiments of the present world.

A 21st-century artist has made a timeless declaration to five thousand years of splendid civilization.

Inside the Bird's Nest, the flames on the main cauldron suddenly surged, illuminating the entire stadium as if it were daytime.

In the firelight, countless spectators discovered that their tear tracks were reflecting a golden light, a mark of the phoenix's rebirth from the ashes, and a brilliant kiss left on the earth by an ancient people as they set off for the stars and the sea.

"Friends, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics has now come to an end. Thank you for watching."

The same commentary appeared in different media outlets around the world.

The language is different, but the shock is the same—I'm still reeling from the shock.

On Farrow Island, Bergman turned off the television, never expecting that in the final moments of his decaying life, he would witness the most powerful collective narrative.

Just like the life-and-death questions that he repeatedly explores in his films, Lu Kuan has given a completely new answer with the unique collective narrative of the East.

The old man vaguely recalled that afternoon three years ago when they first met, remembering the heavy emotions he felt at the time and the fear he had seen in the movie.

Clearly, judging from tonight's work, there is no trace of it left.

What did he experience in those three years?
Bergman let out a strained laugh. This director, who had spent his life exploring the abyss of human nature, was not clear about the origin of this change, but he was glad that this young man had not followed in his footsteps.

Love can heal fear and ignite the soul.

The gaunt film master gazed one last time at the afternoon sun over the Baltic Sea, convinced that history would record it thus:

On August 8, 2008, as the phoenix's radiant feathers swept across the steel frame of the Bird's Nest, the gates of the temple of cinematic art were flung open a crack.

A young man from China used the splendid civilization of his motherland as his admission ticket, and one foot has already stepped into this hall of masters.

Perhaps in the near future, he will completely elevate the so-called crown of a master to a self-award.

An era of broad prospects is dawning for the art of film.

(End of this chapter)