BEIJING (IHT) -- An ecstatic China, an ancient nation so determined to be modern, finally got its Olympic moment on Friday night. With world leaders watching from inside the latticed shell of the National Stadium, the 2008 Beijing Olympics began with an opening ceremony of soaring fireworks, lavish spectacle and Chinese national pride.

At 8 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month -- eight being a lucky number in China -- the world looked toward Beijing and the 91,000 people inside the National Stadium.
The International Olympic Committee estimated that the global television audience for the opening ceremony could surpass 1 billion people.
“The historic moment we have long awaited is arriving,” President Hu Jintao said earlier on Friday at a luncheon with visiting heads of state, including President George W. Bush. “The world has never needed mutual understanding, mutual toleration and mutual cooperation as much as it does today.”
Beneath such grand themes, Beijing on Friday endured more smoggy skies and a tightening security clampdown amid reports of possible terror threats.
Air China Flight 406 returned to Central Japan International Airport after Japanese authorities received an e-mail warning that a bomb onboard the jetliner would be detonated as the plane crossed over the Olympic Village, Kyodo News reported. The international flight had been destined for the Chinese city of Chongqing.
Beijing's airport, one of the world's busiest, was already closed during the ceremony as part of a previously planned precaution. Out in the city, traffic was restricted on many streets and limited to pre-approved Olympic sanctioned vehicles. Many shops and businesses closed early for security reasons and hours before the ceremony some areas seemed almost deserted in a city of about 15 million people.
China first made its bid to hold the Games 15 years ago, only to be rejected. Since 2001, when the city won its bid to stage the 2008 Games, the Beijing Olympics have been a national priority.
Initially, city officials had planned for a festive public celebration. Giant screens had been erected across the city to allow public viewing, but by midday Friday at least one major screening at Chaoyang Park had been canceled due to a lack of security guards.
Meanwhile, some local newspapers advised people to stay home and watch the show with their families.
“Anyone who tries to disturb the Olympics now by arousing social instability should be severely punished,” said Ma Jie, 53, a taxi driver. “What could be more despicable than that?”
Bush arrived in Beijing late on Thursday night after angering China with sharp criticism of its human rights record during a speech in Thailand.
But by midday Friday, Bush was seen chatting with Hu, the Chinese president, during a luncheon inside the Great Hall of the People.
The two men shared a table with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia, the Japanese prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who once threatened to boycott the opening ceremony, Reuters reported.
The Beijing Games are the most politically-charged Olympics in decades, especially after China's suppression of violent Tibetan protests in March drew international criticism and talk of possible boycotts.
This week, four Tibet independence advocates unfurled a “Free Tibet” banner near the National Stadium before the banner was removed and the advocates were deported.
Authorities have also placed several well-known dissidents under house arrest at a time when an estimated 100,000 police and other soldiers are posted around the city.
By early Friday evening, paramilitary police were pushing away crowds that had gathered around the subway station nearest to the Olympic Village as part of efforts to keep people far away from the National Stadium.
But even amid such an enormous security presence, many of the people walking the streets near the Olympic Village were giddy and proud that China could show itself to the world.
One of these people, Yang Bin, a disc jockey, had traveled more than 500 miles, or 800 kilometers, from Chongqing and was playing hip-hop music along the city's most famous shopping street, Wangfujing.
“I came to Beijing last night to celebrate the Olympics, even though I don't have a ticket,” Yang said. “China is never more glorious than today. The whole world is watching us.”
The $100 million budget for the opening ceremony, which is directed by China's most famous film director, Zhang Yimou, is only a fraction of the estimated $43 billion that China has spent in building roads, stadiums, parks and subway lines in an attempt trying to transform Beijing into an Olympic city. The elaborate production for the opening ceremony included 15,000 performers and a three-part performance focused partly on China's long history and its desire for goodwill with the rest of the world.
Spectators inside the stadium reported high temperatures. One foreign woman said. “It is bloody hot in here and bloody polluted outside.” News agencies reported that some spectators in the stadium arrived only to find that their tickets were fakes and they had been duped by international Internet scams.
One person who did not have a ticket was Lei Xiuying, 61, a peasant. She had traveled more than 1,500 miles on a three day train trip from the city of Kunming. She has no ticket and was sleeping on a pallet beneath an underpass not far from the National Stadium because she could not afford a hotel room.
But she said she had to be in Beijing, anyway.
“I watched television and listened to my radio everyday,” Lei said as she wore a pin with a photo of Mao on her shirt. “There was so much exciting news about the Olympics that I decided six month ago to come here and see for myself.”
Jessie Jiang and Chen Yang contributed research