The Britts are alleging that China's Olympic fireworks were faked!

[Ganymede]

London's Telegraph newspaper reports that some of the fireworks which appeared over Beijing during the television broadcast of the Olympic Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated. But -- hold on -- it's not necessarily as bad as you think.

The faked fireworks were actually set-off at the stadium, but because of potential dangers in filming the display live from a helicopter, viewers at home were shown a pre-recorded, computer-generated shot. It sounds dishonest, but I'm not sure it's such a terrible thing.

The Opening Ceremony is, at its core, just one big performance. And isn't it accepted that some things might not be legit at a performance? The final torch bearer wasn't actually running around the top of the stadium, does the fact that everyone could figure that out make it any less? It might have been unnecessarily deceptive, but the firework-faking isn't that big of a deal. But, if I found out that the lighted-drum thing wasn't on the up and up, then we'll have problems

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Some-Opening-Ceremony-fireworks-were-faked?urn=oly,99745&cp=2#comments

Here's a home video showing that the fire works were real

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mla4KvkEzU

Seems like the Britt's are jealous because they won't be able to touch China's opening ceremony. That was the most spectacular thing I've ever seen on live TV.

[Michael]

Poor Brits, already pissing in their panties....

[Orleander]

Does it really matter? It was all for show anyways. And who wants to film it from above in a helicopter while fireworks are going off? People there got the real thing while we at home got CG.

[CptBork]

Why would Britain want to compete with China's opening ceremony? The message from China is that the people are zombie slaves to the ruling elite. They can make them heel, bark, roll over, and, on command, lay bricks.

[Michael]

I know many Chinese and they are no more a zombie-slave than Americans are - Americans who can be made to fear goat lovers living in caves somewhere in the hinterlands of a backwater bombed out country. Americans zombies who were more than willing to reelecte a dumb-ass and are finally getting a chance to personally watch America undergo the same fate as every other company GW ran, which is to say, straight into the toilet.

I was in China a couple weeks ago, it's much safer, cleaner, nicer and the people kinder than when I was in the USA a couple weeks before that. No inner city gang ghettos either.

[S.A.M.]

The Chinese invented fireworks. Thats what they used gunpowder for, for fun.

[John99]

The Chinese invented fireworks. Thats what they used gunpowder for, for fun.

Not remotely true SAM. Making stuff up as you go along?

Gunpowder
Handgun from the Yuan dynasty, circa 1300s.
Handgun from the Yuan dynasty, circa 1300s.

Main article: History of gunpowder

By the time the Song Dynasty treatise, Wujing Zongyao (武经总要), was written by Zeng Gongliang and Yang Weide in 1044 AD, the various Chinese formulas for gunpowder held levels of nitrate in the range of 27% to 50%.[11] By the end of the 12th century, Chinese formulas of gunpowder had a level of nitrate capable of bursting through cast iron metal containers, in the form of the earliest hollow, gunpowder-filled grenade bombs.[12]

In 1280 AD the bomb store of the large gunpowder arsenal at Weiyang accidentally caught fire, which produced such a massive explosion that a team of Chinese inspectors at the site a week later deduced that some 100 guards had been killed instantly, with wooden beams and pillars blown sky high and landing at a distance of over 10 li (~2 mi. or ~3.2 km) away from the explosion.[13]

By the time of Jiao Yu and his Huolongjing in the mid 14th century, the explosive potential of gunpowder was perfected, as the level of nitrate in gunpowder formulas had risen to a range of 12% to 91%,[11] with at least 6 different formulas in use that are considered to have maximum explosive potential for gunpowder.[11] By that time, the Chinese had discovered how to create explosive cannonballs by packing their hollow shells with this nitrate-enhanced gunpowder.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Inventions_of_Ancient_China

[S.A.M.]

Umm which was first? Fireworks or guns?

[Michael]

Actually, during their military heyday, the Chinese has some impressive weapons of war. Very impressive. That said, they were usually thinking in terms of unification of China and defending against nomadic hordes.

[John99]

That is not why it was invented. It was discovered by accident but it was not long until it was used as a weapon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Dynasty#Gunpowder_warfare

Edit: Mike beat me to it.

[lepustimidus]

Everyone here is forgetting that to S.A.M, West = Bad, East = Good.

[33639856]

they did let off fireworks but they would not look as spectacular and clear if we saw thw real things plus they could not film from above as it was to dangerous

[spidergoat]

It just goes to show they don't think twice about manipulating the media. In the US, they would have at least made a disclaimer.

[lepustimidus]

China puts on what is possibly one of the best opening ceremonies in history, and people bitch. Don't tell me there isn't some anti-China sentiment there.

[spidergoat]

Of course there is, they are a totalitarian police state.

[lepustimidus]

A totalitarian police state who saw fit to host countries from all around the world, and put on a grand opening ceremony for its guests.

You want to bitch about China's 'totalitarianism', fine. But nitpicking the Opening Ceremony is just petty.

[Enmos]

Hmm I don't think that just because an attempted deception is obvious to everyone it is ok to do it.

[Asguard]

actually far from this being the brits bitching, it apears to be true. The ABC yesterday reported that they had spoken to a chinesse offical (unfortuantly didnt name him\her) who had stated that they had CGI's the fireworks display INCASE OF BAD WEATHER which is of course what they got. So the screens in the stadium and the TV footage wasnt all real, some of it was CGI

[ashura]

It just goes to show they don't think twice about manipulating the media. In the US, they would have at least made a disclaimer.

I remember hearing that there was a disclaimer, with an announcer mentioning it was fake.

[CptBork]

I know many Chinese and they are no more a zombie-slave than Americans are - Americans who can be made to fear goat lovers living in caves somewhere in the hinterlands of a backwater bombed out country. Americans zombies who were more than willing to reelecte a dumb-ass and are finally getting a chance to personally watch America undergo the same fate as every other company GW ran, which is to say, straight into the toilet.

I was in China a couple weeks ago, it's much safer, cleaner, nicer and the people kinder than when I was in the USA a couple weeks before that. No inner city gang ghettos either.

So your experiences are with the Chinese elite and their neck of the woods. I never called them zombies, just the legions of peasants from the inner countries whom they lord over. The peasants make up the vast majority of China, BTW, but you won't find so many of them openly travelling the streets of the richer cities.