Zhang's the star; now it's London's turn

BEIJING is a ying and yang city of contrasts.

Griping poverty and new world wealth collide in the Chinese capital but the Olympics isn't much different.

At no other event would you find a 5ft gymnast from Los Angeles sitting alongside a 7ft basketballer from Vilnius in a dining hall designed for 10,000 carb-craving athletes.

Last night they marched alongside each other in a proud pageant that was watched with both shock and awe.

Meticulous planning, stellar choreography and supreme technology all combined to set a new gold standard of Olympic opening nights.

Ceremony director Zhang Yimou was the toast of China today - feted by President Hu Jintao.

They say the Olympics could bring change to this country and they certainly have for Zhang.

His acclaimed feature film career - with movies that often depict the gritty side of life here - has been a thorn in the side of the Chinese government.

When he won an award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994, the authorities stopped him from attending.

When one of his films was nominated for an Oscar, Chinese officials lobbied to have it withdrawn from contention.

"I felt nervous and intense throughout the whole show," said Zhang.

"Especially before the lighting of the cauldron, my heart was pounding so hard. There was only one chance, and not a single mistake was allowed.

"We've worked hard for nearly three years on this opening ceremony and we are very proud of its success."

However, there was disappointment for the hundreds of people who had gathered on the historic Tiananmen Square - including many British fans without tickets, which were changing hands for up to 50 times the average monthly salary.

Police cordoned off the entire area and didn't open it until well after the ceremony was concluded.

Watching from the plush seats last night, London 2012 chief Seb Coe appeared to be enjoying himself - although inside he was probably wandering how his Games will top China's opening and, more importantly, how they will afford it.

Coe and his team will have a chance to give the world a glimpse of their creativity at the closing ceremony in two weeks time.

The next hosts will get eight minutes to put across their 2012 vision.

"The home audience is obviously going to be very, very different in terms of its reactions from people around the world," said London 2012's ceremony director Stephen Powell.

"But if I'm not giving too much away, we don't have any inflatable beefeaters.

"Ceremonies in Beijing will be very Chinese, so what we've done is take the baton, as it were, and done something that's very, very British."

But whatever happens you won't see a repeat of the scenes 12 years ago when the handover from Atlanta to Sydney was marked with the appearance of giant inflatable kangaroos and prawns on bicycles.

"You don't try and re-brand your nation in eight minutes," London 2012 head of ceremonies Martin Green said. "You create something very visual, hopefully very memorable with a bit of ooh and a bit of ah."

JAMES TONEY in Beijing