2010 Asian Games opening ceremony

  The opening ceremony officially began on November 12, 2010 at 20:00 local time(当地时间）. For the first time in history, the ceremony was not held inside the stadium; instead, it was held along the Pearl River（珠江） on Haixinsha Island（海心沙岛）. The ceremony was directed by Chen Weiya（总导演陈维亚）, who also the assistant director of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing（北京夏季奥运会）, and featured the cast of about 6,000 performers. It was attended (出席）by the Premier of the People's Republic of China（中国国务院总理）, Wen Jiabao, President of Pakistan（巴基斯坦总统） Asif Ali Zardari,Thai Prime Minister（泰国总理） Abhisit Vejjajiva, Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong（香港行政区行政长官） Henry Tang, as well as President of the Olympic Council of Asia（亚奥理事会） (OCA), Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and President of International Olympic Committee（国际奥委会主席） Jacques Rogge. The ceremony lasted for four hours, and spent ￥380 million ($53 million), the fee [fi:]（费用） including the closing ceremony.（闭幕式）

   Athletes were paraded（列队行进） by boats along the Pearl River. The ceremony featured the water-themed （以水为主题的）arts show and culture of Guangzhou. The last torchbearer（火炬手）, diver He Chong（跳水冠军何冲） lit up the cauldron [ˈkɔ:ldrən]（圣火台），after ignited（点燃） the traditional Chinese firecrackers（爆竹） whose flare shot up （一飞冲天）until the tower.

The ceremony was regarded as （认为是）successful, as IOC President Jacques Rogge describe it as "absolutely fantastic", and have ability to host the Olympics. OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam praises it as unique [ju:ˈni:k]（独一无二的）, fantastic and "just better than the Beijing Olympics".