BEIJING, China - Just hours before the curtain raises for the Beijing Olympics at 8 p.m. on August 8, 2008, my friends and I have been engrossed in a new Olympic event. It's the big guessing game: Will it rain or will Beijing be blessed with a clear sky? Who will light the Olympic flame? How will it be lit? Will we be dazzled by the opening ceremony?

I had the good fortune of watching an earlier rehearsal of the much anticipated opening ceremony, directed by Chinese film guru Zhang Yimou and featuring a cast of thousands. Short of leaking "state secrets" and spoiling the suspense, I can say that the three-and-a-hour extravaganza can compare well with the pomp and ceremony produced by previous host cities, like Athens, Sydney and Barcelona. The first hour features a potpourri of group dances and acrobatic stunts performed by scores of China's best cultural troupes, including virtually all the 50 plus ethnic groups in China. It's just like watching a Cirque de Soleil, where three or four troupes perform at the same time on the sprawling makeshift stage laid on the oval of the national sports stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest.

Zhang Yimou's mega-production begins a minute before 8 p.m. local time with a stunning countdown featuring hundreds of costumed performers banging drums in unison. China's best artists perform tableaus depicting China's imperial pride: one segment hails Chinese ancient inventions of paper making, printing, gunpowder and compass; another retells the ancient Silk Road and naval trade routes as examples of the Middle Kingdom's engagement with the outside world.

Zhang makes maximum use of space, on and off ground. We are awed by flying fairies and "taikonauts" (Chinese for astronauts) and dazzled by the synchronized "tai chi" by hundreds of kungfu artists.  Cleverly, he meshed traditional elements with modern art forms and technology, such computer and lighting.

Zhang, who took three years to put this show together, explains his underlying message: "No matter how glorious our five thousand years' of history have been, what we want to show today to the people of the world should not be simply an exhibition, telling people that we have this stuff, that we had it two thousand years before you did. We must turn it into a touching experience."

After a brief fireworks interlude, Olympic athletes will march in, not alphabetical order but according to number of strokes of the first Chinese character of their names in Chinese. Greece will be in front, as is the tradition, followed by delegations from Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Turkey. Curiously, Australia will be near the tail, just before Zambia. China as host will be at the end, with basketball superstar Yao Ming as its standard-bearer.

To be sure, I did not see 100 percent of the Opening Ceremony. Zhang Yimou is keeping many elements shrouded in secrecy: who will be the last of the torch bearers who will run a relay around the stadium to light the Olympic flame? One fearless forecast: retired male gymnast Li Ning, winner of four Olympic golds, a successful business entrepreneur (he founded "Li Ning", now a major competitor of Nike and Adidas), and a charismatic public figure in and outside China.

The extravaganza will climax with massive fireworks, carefully choreographed by Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang. Combining traditional concepts with modern pyrotechnic techniques, the world-class art virtuoso will light up Beijing's skies using one of China's proudest inventions: gunpowder.

Posted by: CNN Beijing Bureau Chief, Jaime FlorCruz
Filed under: China •Olympics •Sports

BEIJING, China - Rarely has a nation's pride and expectations rested on one athlete's foot. But for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, China's collective hopes may pivot on Yao Ming's left foot.

Yao Ming is rehabilitating from surgery.

Yao Ming is China's biggest sports star. But the weight of 1.3 billion people's hopes and dreams is a heavy burden to bear, even for a man who stands more than 7 feet (213 centimeters) tall and weighs more than 300 pounds (136 kilograms).

By excelling in the National Basketball Association in the United States, the towering Shanghai native has single-handedly put China on the world map of professional basketball. He is the tallest symbol of the NBA's booming global appeal.

Yao is idolized as the pillar of the "walking Great Wall"; he has helped make basketball quite possibly the most popular sport in China. Small wonder Chinese basketball fans pin high hopes on Yao to lead China's national team in the Olympic Games, which starts on August 8 in Beijing.

Yao was averaging 22 points and 10.8 rebounds per game Yao when he suffered a stress fracture to his left foot in February, forcing him out of the NBA season. That came as a blow to the Houston Rockets and their fans. "No one saw this coming," one blogger wrote. "I feel like crying." But that was nothing compared to the shock that rippled through China. Would their national hero recover in time to represent China at the Olympics? Lingering doubts sent fans and sports officials into a panic. Yao himself conceded that missing the Games would be "the biggest loss to my career."

Yao Ming has already come a long way from his rookie years. In June 27, 2002, I interviewed him in our CNN Beijing bureau the day he was picked by Houston Rockets as the NBA's No. 1 draft that year. Shy and soft-spoken, Yao then could only muster a smattering of English. "Hi, Houston," he said haltingly during a live interview. "I'm coming." The Rockets picked him for his towering frame, soft shooting touch and "limitless potential," but doubts lingered whether he had what it would take to break into the world's elite league.

Six years into his NBA career, Yao Ming is now a superstar athlete celebrated in America and idolized in China. Yao's demeanor on and off the court has endeared him to the media and public, who admire his modesty and maturity. After a massive earthquake devastated Sichuan province last May, Yao was one of the first sports celebrities to pledge donations for the quake relief. Still, he was a target of criticisms, in the Chinese media and the blogosphere. Critics complained that his initial pledge was too little compared to what he earns yearly in NBA salary and commercial endorsements. (Forbes magazine ranks Yao as one of the richest persons in China.) Last week, Yao unveiled the Yao Foundation Web site - yaofoundation.cn - which aims to leverage his iconic stature to generate funds for future philanthropic projects, such as building schools for Sichuan's quake survivors.

Meantime, Yao is itching to play ball. Three months after undergoing surgery and rehabilitation, the NBA superstar is back in Beijing to train with China's national team. Could Yao cope with the mounting pressure?

"To me this Olympic Games is biggest opportunity of my life," he told reporters who packed a hotel ballroom in Beijing. "Intense pressure always goes hand-in-hand with major competitions." Yao says his foot is now 80 percent healed and he expects to be fit to play soon. He now wears a customized pair of sneakers, "made according to the shape of my feet and the average tension they sustain."

Yao and his team will open their Olympic campaign against Team USA on August 10. Their group also includes world champion Spain, African champion Angola and two European qualifiers yet to be determined. "The U.S. and Spain are much stronger than China and I don't think we can beat them," Yao opines. "So if we want to advance to the next round, we will have to beat Angola and one of the two qualifiers from Europe."

That will demand optimum contribution from Yao. His fans are wary that his hasty return on court could put his career at risk. The physical rigors of playing with the world's basketball stars have taken their toll on his body. In the past two and a half years, Yao has suffered a broken foot, a broken leg, and an infected big toe. Full recovery from a stress fracture usually takes one year, but the Olympics is just a few weeks away and Yao says he is determined to play for China in August.

Would he be trying as hard if the Olympics were not going to be in Beijing? The 27-year-old Yao says: "Since there is no ‘if' that the Olympics will be held in Beijing, I too have no ‘if'."

– With additional reporting by Sherisse Pham

Posted by: CNN Beijing Bureau Chief, Jaime FlorCruz
Filed under: China •Olympics •Sports

KASHGAR, China - It’s been nearly 10 years since I last visited Kashgar, a city of 3.8 million on the western frontier region of China. Its airport is now five times bigger and is now a gateway to six international destinations. It now boasts of paved six-lane roads, quite an improvement from the bumpy narrow dirt roads that we took during my previous four visits.

Students dance during the Olympic torch relay Tuesday in Urumqi, China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

This time I return to cover the Olympic torch relay. In the early morning of June 18 I watch a contingent of Kashgar students practice cheering the arrival of the Olympic torch in this mainly Muslim city. “Go China,” they chanted, on cue. “Go Beijing! … Go Kashgar!” How odd, I thought. Kashgar people are normally more spontaneous than this.

The torch’s arrival here is a reminder of China’s rule over this remote frontier region. China hopes to show that it is a nation of diverse cultures and ethnic groups.

And for Kashgar, it’s a chance to showcase their exotic culture to attract more tourists and investors. More than 80 percent of Kashgar’s 3.8 million people are Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking, traditionally Muslim ethnic group. Here East meets West, and communism coexists with Islam.

“By choosing Kashgar as a relay stop,” Kashgar’s parliament chief Zinet Emer tells me, ” the central government has given us tremendous importance.”

But this was a particularly sensitive leg of the relay, given the tensions between China and the disgruntled Uighurs– some of whom are seeking independence from Chinese rule.

Heavy security was in place to prevent protests during the torch run. The government banned all but carefully chosen members of the public. Twice, police meticulously checked us – journalists and our gear – just as they do at the airports. “We normally don’t do this,” Emer tells me. “But those (anti-China) groups overseas have thrown jabs at us so we must hit back with a big punch. We must safeguard everyone’s safety.”

More than 200 torchbearers took turns parading the torch through Kashgar’s main streets. Along the route, residents cheered them on, shouting pre-approved standard slogans. “Go, China!” … But we only witnessed the relay of the last seven torchbearers because authorities confined us to a designated press section on the sprawling People’s Square. There, the carefully planned pageantry ended with songs and dances, under the close watch of Chinese police.

As in my previous visits, Kashgar impressed me with its distinctive culture and endearing hospitality. But the extremely tight security today leaves a bad impression: it highlights the differences between the public face that China wants to present to the world, and the tense reality on the ground.

I wonder what it will be like when the Olympic torch relay reaches Beijing on August 6, two days before the start of the 2008 Olympics.

Posted by: CNN Beijing Bureau Chief, Jaime FlorCruz
Filed under: Olympics