The Beijing Olympic Games: The History Of The Beijing Olympics

The Beijing Olympics were one of the most iconic global sporting event in recent memory. During the course of the 19 day spectacle 205 countries competed, 37 world records were broken and roughly 4.7 billion people tuned in worldwide. The whole world watched as Usain Bolt became the fastest man to ever live and Michael Phelps won, an astonishing, eight gold medals in aquatics. However, these games were about so much more than sports. In the decades before the 2000’s China had faded into the background and was more or less irrelevant when it came to world super powers. Therefore, these games were about China exhibiting their recently attained wealth and power. The games provided a massive stage for the most up and coming country in the early 21st century. Forty four billion dollars was spent on this Olympics, the most ever. The Olympiad allowed for a global stage for China to flex its muscles just as it had done so many times in its history and the country succeeded in this display. China used the opportunity of the Beijing Olympics to showcase its massive wealth, cultural values and advancement in technology; the games served as both China’s celebration and solidification in the role as a world power.

A massive display of coordination, unity, harmony and strength the opening ceremony set the tone for exactly what China wanted to showcase. Perhaps the most memorable display in the ceremony was the performance of the drummers. The drummer demonstrated the chinese values of harmony and coordination on a massive scale. This was done while keeping the connection to the country’s ancient past, as was done throughout the ceremony. 2,008 drummers beat individual bronze fou drums, the standard instrument of ancient Confucian rituals, with absolute synchrony. These drums held certain values in the chinese culture such as friendship. welcome and peace (Chen,