Beijing Opening Ceremony's Pictures

Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, opens the parade of the 204 competing nations with the team's flag carried by judoka Ilias Iliadis.

After running around the entire rim of the Bird's Nest stadium suspended on a wire, Li lights the fuse that ignites the cauldron.

The ceremony portrays 5,000 years of Chinese history, cleverly highlighting achievements in art, music and science.

The Silk Road that linked China to the west is portrayed using blue-robed oarsmen who use giant paddles to create striking images.

The opening section of the memorable ceremony draws to a close with another spectacular fireworks display.

In an incredible display of choreography, grey boxes representing printing blocks from ancient China, morph into different characters.

The crowd erupts as basketball player Yao Ming leads the host nation into the stadium with tiny Sichuan earthquake survivor Lin Hao.

After a seven year wait the opening ceremony finally gets underway with 2,008 drummers creating an incredible countdown.

Thousands of specks of light make up the Olympic rings on the floor of the arena and are then magically lifted into the sky.

The first batch of an estimated 20,000 fireworks light up Beijing's night sky with excitement at fever pitch inside the stadium.

Artists emerge to symbolise the age of Chinese philosopher Confucius wearing some of the 15,153 striking costumes on offer.

The Chinese flag arrives in the arena and is then raised to loud cheers from the crowd as the opening ceremony hots up.