"I felt nervous and intense throughout the whole show," said Zhang Yimou, China's famous film director and chief director of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on early dawn Saturday, right after the ceremony lowered its curtain.

Zhang Yimou, director of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, meets the press after ceremony in Beijing August 9, 2008.

"Especially before the lighting of the cauldron, my heart was pounding so hard," Zhang told reporters. "There was only one chance, and not a single mistake was allowed."

Luckily the cauldron lighting went on smoothly, thanks to torch bearer Li Ning's hard and excellent work, said Zhang.

Shortly after the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics, the directing team of three and two other BOCOG (the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th Olympic Games) officials attended a press briefing, with obvious relief on their faces.

"We've worked hard for nearly three years on this opening ceremony," said Zhang. "We are very proud of today's success."

Deputy chief director Chen Weiya said: "During the preparation, we had hardships and pains, but we finally tasted joy, because we were producing a fantastic show to the whole world."

According to Zhang, the ceremony put more emphasis on China's traditional and ancient culture, with a combination of its development in modern era.

"The world wants to see Chinese elements, so we put our focus on those unique and typical, such as the four great inventions, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese painted scroll, Taiji martial arts and others," he said.

The latest high technology was a must to be used at the ceremony, said Zhang, as the directing team wanted the show to attract more attention from youngsters. The high technology coated the performance with dazzling shines and colors, making it a modern, cool and glaring show, he added.

The team also used the so-called "square art", flooding thousands of actors and actresses into the stadium. "On such a large field, it'll be too quite if we just put a few actors/actresses on it, so we need a large crowd to create an atmosphere of passion," said the eloquent Zhang.

Though the team seemed taking off their burden, Zhang Heping, director of BOCOG's opening and closing ceremonies department, said the burden would only be off their shoulders for a short while.

"It's not the time to celebrate yet," said the sober-minded Zhang Heping. "We still have the closing ceremony, and the same team is also in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Paralympics after the Olympics, which will surely be successful too."

"The show just begins!" said the cheerful Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2008)