From yesterday's Peking to today's Beijing (北京), the journey to becoming host for a 21st century summer Olympiad adds to the mystique of one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of the People's Republic of China.  Eight hundred years of recorded history are beneath the feet of the 5,000,000 athletes and tourists pouring into the area for the 2008 Olympics.  Dragons denoting good luck will be found along Wangfujing Street with the sounds of Pinyin being spoken along the boulevard once hosting residences of Chinese nobility or a Qing Dynasty princess.  The Bingfanghulu on a skewer has delighted tourists for eight centuries.

Emperors of the Ming & Qing  Dynasties have propelled the Forbidden City into iconic status.  Nearby, the events of 1989 at Tiananmen Square inside the heavenly gates put China's quest to host the Olympics in dire peril and the vestiges and protests of human rights mar China's bid to this date.  That is against a forgotten back history of other colonial powers, British & French, burning the Old Summer Palace in revenge in the 19th century.  The wreckage remains as a ruin and reminder of allowing others to lead China.  That history is partially what led UNESCO to commission the former Garden of Clear Ripples or Summer Palace, a marvelously landscaped area next to man-made Kunmig Lake, as a World Heritage Site in 1998. The Ming Dynasty Tombs just inside Beijing's limits features a serenity walk to the 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors Tombs that are part of a separate Chinese World Heritage Site.

Modern Beijing is fighting copious amounts of pollution and corruption as it cements itself as an independent world power on 08.08.08 in front of billions as hosts of The Games.  The yin and yang of all that is Beijing is quintessentially will be on display for throngs of tourists and folks like me to comment upon.  Beijing Capital International Airport welcomes weary travelers who can perk up immersing themselves into 5,000 years of Chinese cultural history for two sports-packed, intense human drama filled weeks alongside the quadrennial special that is the 2008 Olympics. The Opening ceremonies launches with a 3.5 hour show that kicks into high gear with the parade of nations.

China invented gunpowder around 200 B.C. and organizers aim for a show-stopping fireworks display. The effort will include rockets launched from 1,800 sites around the city. 

At the National Stadium, fireworks "will explode into dragon-shaped fountains of red peonies and yellow dragons," the Beijing Today newspaper reported last month. The display will climax with 2,008 "smiley face" fireworks, accompanied by photographs of people smiling around the world, the paper said. 

"Seeing how China's 5,000-year history is so brilliant, we can't just give an overview or make it like a history class," he said.

China went to extraordinary lengths to build architectural showcase venues called Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatic Center) and spectacular The Birds Nest (Beijing National Stadium) whose formal names do an injustice to their majesty and innovation.  China, open before us for only the next two Olympic weeks will be treat and travesty as the world learns a few of their secrets as cultural treasures go on display with extremely tight security and their ambitions stay hidden close to the Forbidden City's only off limits place even to cars, Zhongnanhai, China's version of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
 Tiananmen Square (L) & Mao's Mausoleum scene of practice fireworks display. (Photos courtesy of Reuters, Barrio/Magen)