Beijing Olympics organizers on Friday denied reports that the opening ceremony of the 2008 Games will feature a Chinese opera, saying the exact details of the ceremony are a closely guarded secret.
A Beijing-based newspaper this week quoted the ceremony's artistic director Zhang Yimou as saying that the viewers would have a chance to taste Qinqiang, a folk opera popular in northwest China, during the opening ceremony.
But Zhu Hong, deputy director of the opening and closing ceremonies department of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee (BOCOG), dismissed the report as "absolutely false".
"There are about 300 kinds of folk operas in China. We have yet to decide whether the ceremony should showcase any local opera or not, not to mention decide how it can be displayed," Zhu told Chinese reporters.
Zhu, however, revealed that how the Olympic flame will be lit at the opening ceremony was already fixed.
"It's the top secret. Only 10 people know about the details, even I myself know nothing," he said.
Beijing intends to make the three and a half hours show the best opening ceremony ever, making it an unforgettable experience for the visitors from all over the world. Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, Australian Ric Birch and Frenchman Yves Pepin have been invited by the organizing committee to be creative consultants for the opening ceremony.
The 2008 Olympic Games will take place in Beijing from Aug. 8 to 24.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2008)
