This is an edited account from my friend in Beijing, less than 24 hours before the Opening Ceremonies:
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Yep, I have to say I'm excited...the atmosphere in town yesterday was terrific.
This morning, with my tutor I'm off over to Tian'AnMen Sq to soak it up...and then we're going to an historic site that's been closed for a couple of years...
This afternoon, I'll have to head to the BN (Bird's Nest) mid-afternoon. There's a pre-Opening concert that starts around 5 PM local...don't know if it will be broadcast...it will feature 20+ ethnic groups. My guess is it's to try and lure the audience into the BN (Bird's Nest) well ahead of time. I expect security to be really intense.
My seat (for the Opening Ceremonies) is on the bend right after the start line -- what I think I could describe as the first bend...in Sector D, the lower tier...and I'm only 14 rows back from the infield, so should have a good view.
And, BTW the order of appearance of the participating countries has proved to be controversial...of the 205 countries, Australia will appear 3rd from the bottom! This is all dictated by the stroke value of the first character of the Chinese name...so, in fact all the "Ma" countries -- Malaysia, Mali, Malta etc., - will appear towards the front, as their character is only 3 strokes. Australia has 15 strokes in its name.
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Oh, so that's how you spell Tian'AnMen Square? Hmm...