By Ni Yuanjin
China.org.cn staff reporter

A concert marking the first anniversary of the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games was held at the Olympic Forest Park last night. Jackie Chan and Sandy Lam premiered the anniversary theme song "Like A Dream", written by Wang Pingjiu and composed by Chang Shilei.

"Like a dream, an everlasting fate, cherish the memory all our life". Appointed general designer of the anniversary concert, the lyricist who was a section chief of the Cultural Activities Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), went back to the Olympic Green and suddenly all the experiences remained fresh in his memory.

Xiong Ni (R 1st), Wei Wei (R 2nd), and Liu Yan (L 4th) on the stage. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

The Olympic Green, Bird's Nest, Water Cube, Olympic Boulevard and Lucky Cloud Houses were hot spots last summer thronged with visitors, but this summer have been oases of calm in noisy Beijing. Wang was gratified by the exceptional Olympic Games and sent short messages to his fellow workers to express his mixed feelings; he then polished these messages and wrote the theme song "Like A Dream".

The lyric describes the feeling of all the Olympic contributors and all the Chinese people, many of whom worked quietly behind the scenes. Xiong Ni, stand-in for the original Olympic flame lighter Li Ning, was suspended 40-meter highs at every midnight for a month during the rehearsals. Liu Yan, the leading dancer of the Silk Road episode of the opening ceremony, encountered an accident in a dress rehearsal, and one of China's most promising dancer will probably spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Wei Wei, an opening ceremony name bearer for the athletes' march past, underwent strict training for several months, but never had a chance to appear at the Bird's Nest opening ceremony because Brunei was disqualified that day for having no registered athletes.

After these three people appeared on the stage, Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing Municipality thanked all staff, volunteers, contributors and all the Beijing residents for giving their support for an exceptional Olympic Games.

"You and Me", "Dream of the Five Rings", "An Ode to My Country" were performed differently from the Olympic Opening Ceremony at the anniversary concert. The 2008 Beijing Olympics theme song "Forever Friends", the torch relay song "Light the Passion, Share the Dream" and volunteers' song "I am A Star" were sung by Coco Lee and Sun Nan, Sha Baoliang and Zhang Liangying, Wakin Chou and Li Muzi.

Chairman of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad Liu Qi, Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong and the chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the 29th Olympiad Hein Verbruggen of the Netherlands all attended the concert.

Popular star Coco Lee (L) and Sun Nan (R) perform. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

Sponsored by Beijing Municipal People's Government and organized by Beijing Olympic City Development Association, this anniversary concert will be broadcast on CCTV on August 8 nationwide.

Beijing Olympic City Development Association is aiming to carry on the Olympic legacy while promoting the Olympic spirit, the Beijing Games spirit as well as the Olympic cause.

The association will communicate and cooperate with the International Olympic Committee and the World Union of Olympic Cities, to provide Olympic-related aid and conduct research in a bid to help with the city's development and government decisions.

Popular star Emil Chau performs with children. [By Ni Yuanjin/China.org.cn]

(China.org.cn August 7, 2009)