Talk:2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

Order of countries entering stadium

Is the order of countries entering published anywhere? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.207.242.57 (talk) 07:42, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Theoretically, someone with a very comprehensive Chinese dictionary and knowledge of Chinese should be able to figure it out. You only have to look up participating members and place them in the order it will appear in that dictionary. But we have no idea if the organizer would be going with the full name or commonly used name. I don't think Chinese themselves have done this in any world event they hosted, so it's going to be wait and see. For security reason, I doubt it will be available before the actual opening ceremony unless some media leaks it.--Revth (talk) 08:43, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that stroke order is nothing new, and is one of the ways Chinese words are sorted. The only issue for laymen interested in it is whether they use full name or short name. 118.90.92.107 (talk) 10:32, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

User:Petermgiles works for some Canadian thing, so he has the official order. Ask him. Smartyllama (talk) 14:47, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

The order is also now on the 2008 Summer Olympics national flag bearers, although Iraq isn't listed. (I'll try and figure out where they'll be, though.) DitzyNizzy (aka Jess) (talk) 19:04, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Or, on second thoughts, someone else will have to figure out where Iraq goes - I can't see Chinese characters on my laptop. :( DitzyNizzy (aka Jess) (talk) 19:06, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

You might need to read this. I believe some free fonts for Chinese text are linked at the bottom. Xeltran (talk) 12:32, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Disgraceful and Insulting CCP Propaganda

A troupe of over a hundred Indigenous Taiwanese dancers travelling from Taiwan, and referred to by Xinhua as "ethnic Taiwanese compatriots", will also perform at the opening ceremony.

This is yet another disgraceful attempt by the CCP to portray native Taiwanese culture as though it were part of Chinese culture. Fortunately, there is no need to delete this paragraph; all we need to do to make the paragraph neutral is to add an explanation for the CCP's motives behind this despicable hijacking of Taiwanese culture (with references to reliable sources of course). David873 (talk) 09:54, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

I have just amended the paragraph in order to include a note about Mainland China-Taiwan relations. What we now need is a reliable source to back it up; some elaboration would also be useful. Of course, the alternative is to get rid of the whole paragraph altogether but this would be an act of censorship. David873 (talk) 10:04, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

You may be intrigued to be informed that CCTV productions routinely refers to all Chinese, including even the overseas Chinese all over the world as compatriots aka "tong bao", so by what you are insinuating, they would be attempting to extend their territorial claim to practically all corners of the globe?--Huaiwei (talk) 19:04, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

No, that was not what I originally said. The point that I have made is that no one in their right mind would regard the indigenous culture of Taiwan as being part of Chinese culture. Of course, the CCP has no interest in portraying indigenous Taiwanese culture as being separate from Chinese culture. On the other hand, whether mainstream Taiwanese culture is part of Chinese culture is another story (though I have to add that many Taiwanese do not seem to think so). So I am afraid the fact that you removed the statement about cross-strait relations may say something about your views that many Taiwanese would certainly disagree with. David873 (talk) 00:01, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I see absolutely no logic that a Taiwanese group performing in the game's opening ceremony would in any way suggest that Taiwanese culture is part of Chinese culture. Even if that is true, kindly quantify "no one", for clearly there are practically 20% of the world's population who thinks so, plus millions of others all around the world who identifies with Chinese culture yet do not identify with the PRC as their "motherland".--Huaiwei (talk) 13:15, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

In any case, the fact that there will be Taiwanese Aborigines performing at the opening ceremony leads to a question that just cannot be ignored: "Why is this going to happen anyway and what does this have to do with the Olympic Games?" Please do not tell me that Taiwan is part of China or that there are two Chinas with Taiwan being one of them. Most sensible people accept that there is one China and one Taiwan (the later not being part of China in any way). David873 (talk) 09:43, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

I didn't realise that traditional dances performing in a foreign country signifies that the country in which those dancers hail from automatically becomes part of the country where they perform? So when Malay Aborigines perform in Thailand, Malaysia is interpreted to be a part of Thailand? I hope there is a greater dose of simple logic here. You are attempting to insert your POV in supposed sensitivity when none are suggested in any way. Taiwanese Aborigines are free to perform anywhere they wish, and have complete freedom to decline to perform for any reason.--Huaiwei (talk) 03:20, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Of course, there is no rule or law saying that Taiwanese Aborigines (or indeed members of any other ethnic group) from performing wherever they wish at international events such as the Olympics. This fact, though, does not address the fundamental questions that I had asked before. Isn't it blatantly obvious that the CCP will only "use" the indigenous Taiwanese performance in order to advance their sickening claims that Taiwan is part of China? After all, New Zealand performers didn't turn up at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia in order to "showcase" their culture! Why does the 2008 Olympic Games have to be different in this regard? Perhaps someone out there (other than Huaiwei) actually knows the answer. David873 (talk) 10:12, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for admitting that your edit in this said article is based purely on your own speculative assumptions, and one that is heavily politically influenced to boot. As long as there is zero adherence to any of the three basic policies of WP:NPOV, WP:V or WP:OR, there is simply nothing to negotiate here for its inclusion.--Huaiwei (talk) 10:25, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Funny you should say this, seeing that you are clearly biased about China-Taiwan relations. Here is the evidence.

...there are practically 20% of the world's population who thinks so, plus millions of others all around the world who identifies with Chinese culture yet do not identify with the PRC as their "motherland".

There you go. This is what you wrote earlier, which gave your opinions about Taiwan and its culture away. I am sure many editors of Taiwanese background will at best dismiss your comments as a bad case of cultural cringe; at worst, they will be treated as highly insulting. Any other editor who has an opinion on this should comment too as this is starting to get ridiculous. David873 (talk) 11:05, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

I would certainly love to hear from you just how you would intrepret the comment I made above, how that is supposed to a reflection of my personal views on Taiwanese culture, and whether my personal view has allowed itself to encroach into this debate.--Huaiwei (talk) 15:56, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Source needed for timing of Opening Ceremony

A source is needed for the statement about when the opening ceremony begins. The previous "source" cited was not a valid source and has been deleted. David873 (talk) 00:56, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

 Done I don't think anyone will have a problem with linking to the BBC schedule (after all, they *are* showing the Olympics in the United Kingdom. DitzyNizzy (aka Jess) (talk) 10:42, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

Is there another source available? Some editors seem to keep changing "8:08:08" to "8:00:00", which is starting to get very annoying. David873 (talk) 12:53, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

Actually, Tingo (see below) is correct - This webpage, which was posted in 2006, says that the Mayor of Beijing confirmed its start time as 8pm. DitzyNizzy (aka Jess) (talk) 14:36, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

I want to have you attention that the "08:08:08" in the source article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/7498629.stm) does not mean 8:08:08pm but actually 8pm on Aug. 8th. So the correct time is 8pm. --Tingo (talk) 13:00, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

Someone just changed it back again to 8:08 pm. I am wondering which one is correct. Apparently, there was an announcement on Australian television that the opening ceremony will in fact start at eight minutes past the hour. David873 (talk) 12:28, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Here is a Q&A from the official site[1], it says:"我们都知奥运在08年8月8日开幕,但我却不知8日开幕准确的时间,官方网上也没有明显的说明公布..而流传在网上的信息有人说是早上8:00,有人又说是晚上8点,更有人说是8时8分8秒。麻烦告诉我准确无误的时间。谢谢!回复：8月8日晚上8点。"(Q: We all know that the games begin on Aug 8th, 2008, but I don't know the exact time of it while it is not mentioned clearly in your website. Somebody said that the time is 8 am, some 8 pm, some even said the time is 8:08:08 pm. Please tell me the correct time. Thanks. A: 8 pm on Aug 8th.)--阿pp (talk) 11:50, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

btw. I am Tingo, this is another id of mine.--阿pp (talk) 11:51, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Even if the 8:08pm or 8:08:08pm time is incorrect, it may be widespread enough to mention ("...will start at 8pm, not 8:08pm as some sources reported"). Even the official website has some pages mentioning 8:08 [2] [3] [4], though they are from agencies so the site's disclaimer would presumably apply. Its most recent report says 8pm [5]. In any case, we'll soon know the correct answer for sure. jnestorius^(talk) 15:57, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

It's happened now, and at 8:08. Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/7547074.stm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.105.30 (talk) 17:02, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Hi. What?! I have changed it back to 8:00. ALL three citations used in the article confirm an opening time of 8:00 pm. Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 17:29, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Look, even the source you provided states "8pm", not "8:08 pm". Please stop. ~AH1^(TCU) 17:32, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Change of the marching order

According to a news report by a Korean newspaper (this is via a Japanese source) [6], North Korea protested marching right after South Korea and now four nations will march between them instead. I don't know if it's actually going to happen, so this will be included when the list is released or when the march actually starts.--Revth (talk) 04:23, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

Beginning time by Greenwich

Why don't to write the time of ceremony beginning by the Greenwich time? I asked just, and I'll answer why. I was wonder to find in newspaper's TV shedule that it begins at 13:08, not at nearly noon by Greenwich (as for me, I'm actually in Moscow, but it only need to add 3 hours every day of year - so no differense about what time I speak). I thought so 'cause accordingly article difference between Beijing and Greenwich is 8 hours (UTC +8), but there is no word about absence the summer time in China, so real difference (for August) is 7 hours. Thus, it begins really at 13:08. Dendr (talk) 07:18, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Beijing is using UTC/GMT +8 hours with no daylight saving time in 2008. [7]. --Xagent86 (Talk | contribs) 09:33, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

(UTC)

Korea

QUOTE: "South Korea (韩国) will immediately followed North Korea (朝鲜) because the character 韩 in the name of South Korea has the same stroke count with the character 朝 in North Korea."

So there's no united team this time? -- 李博杰  | —Talk contribs 13:13, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

There was not a united team last time, but they marched together as one in the opening ceremony. This time they are not. jnestorius^(talk) 13:35, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Watching right now - Notice how when NKorea arrives, the crowd cheers so loud. -- 李博杰  | —Talk contribs 14:54, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Boycott sectio need updating

Now that the ceremony is done and over with, there will not be any more need for speculation. Such information should be edited out. Also, there really is no point writing who attended the ceremony in the boycott section, that's counter-productive; same with those countries that simply didn't go and didn't boycott. I'll be doing so in the next few days if no one else does or objects. 24.222.53.34 (talk) 17:45, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Dignitaries

It would be a good idea to alphabetize the countries in the heads of states/dignitaries section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.71.44.226 (talk) 18:49, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Is it really necessary to list dignitaries not attending? It is pretty easy to figure this out from looking at the list who attended and is thus redundant. Also, not every head of state in the world was expected for the ceremony. If there is no objection I will remove it.

Japanese royalty

On the dignitaries section, the names of the Japanese royalty who attended should be added. The commentary said who they were but I can't remember their names now... :) - WikiJohnDoe

Chinese Taipei

Should it be Chinese Taipei or ROC/Taiwan? I know there's an issue with them being at the Olympics as Taiwan, but are we using the name that they are going by there, or the name that the international community knows them as? --Seascic ^T/_C 19:39, 8 August 2008 (UTC)