Big Bang start; China's Olympic dream a reality

ON THE BIG STAGE: Fireworks light up the Beijing skies during the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

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Beijing: Once-reclusive China has commandeered the world stage, celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning display of pageantry and pyrotechnics to open the Summer Games.

Now ascendent as a global power, China welcomed scores of world leaders to Friday's opening ceremony, which was watched by 91,000 people at the eye-catching National Stadium and a potential audience of 4 billion worldwide.

It was depicted as the largest, costliest extravaganza in Olympic history, bookended by barrages of some 30,000 fireworks.

Among the glittering roster of notables on hand: US President George W Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.