Incredible fireworks! (Beijing Olympics)

[hc5duke]

http://www.tinyclips.net/videos.aspx/video~impressive_fireworks_across_beijing/Impressive_fireworks_across_Beijing/Cool_videos/

Caught this clip in a local news segment... The one at about the 5-second mark looks like it's an implosion of their new Olympic stadium! I guess if you want fireworks done right, you gotta go with the country that invented it...

[Lavabe]

http://www.tinyclips.net/videos.aspx/video~impressive_fireworks_across_beijing/Impressive_fireworks_across_Beijing/Cool_videos/

Caught this clip in a local news segment... The one at about the 5-second mark looks like it's an implosion of their new Olympic stadium! I guess if you want fireworks done right, you gotta go with the country that invented it...

Is it Beijing or Beiking? When I was young, it was Peking.

Thanks,
Lavabe

[hc5duke]

Is it Beijing or Beiking? When I was young, it was Peking.

Thanks,
Lavabe

I only noticed the spelling error after I posted it... I rearranged the keys in my keyboard, and sometimes touch-typing doesn't work too well :-/ I didn't want to make a post correcting it to pad my stats, but now I will :)

As an aside, I think the Mandarin "B" sound is a very harsh one, very close to the Spanish "P" sound, as is the "J" sound being close to the Spanish "CH" sound, thus the old spelling of Peking (pronounced pay-king, not pee-king). More on that here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Postal_Map_Romanization)

[rsvman]

Sorry, but it's Bei-Jing, and the J is pronounced like the J in "jack squat." Most people say it like it's freakin' French or something, like "Bei-zhing," but it's not pronounced that way. I took three years of Mandarin Chinese in college. The reason it was spelled Peking when we were kids is that the Romanization system that was used back then STUNK. That's why it was replaced.

[hc5duke]

Sorry, but it's Bei-Jing, and the J is pronounced like the J in "jack squat." Most people say it like it's freakin' French or something, like "Bei-zhing," but it's not pronounced that way. I took three years of Mandarin Chinese in college. The reason it was spelled Peking when we were kids is that the Romanization system that was used back then STUNK. That's why it was replaced.

I think pronouncing it as "Bei-zhing" is just as acceptable as pronouncing the "S" in Paris or "X" in Mexico. That is to say, it's perfectly fine. The phonemes required to (correctly) pronounce the B or the J in Beijing simply do not exist in English, and it just flows better with the zh sound in English. Just my opinion as an amateur linguist :cool:

[tecumseh]

I was in Beijing over New Years and I must say the Chinese love their fireworks. China is in a mind set of trying to find things in their cultural heritage to be proud of after Mao tried to wipe away everything of their past and I think as the discoverers of fireworks this has made the Chinese even more crazy about fireworks.

Beijing had an ordinance banning all amateur fireworks in the city which was in place for several years. They have since relaxed it for New Years. It is unbelievable what the Chinese allow the citizens to shoot off on New Years, massive displays with huge rockets that they set up downtown amongst the buildings. Endless strings of powerful firecrackers. Heck it would be fun to Beijing for the Olympics just for the fireworks. Opening and Closing ceremonies should be outrageous.

[dukemomLA]

The Chinese invented fireworks. Of course, they will be SPECTACULAR!!! Beyond belief.

Can we only hope that their future civil rights, both in country and out, and their media "access," and tolerance of athlete's protests (....and I mean ATHLETE'S...no one else) will live up to my expectations.

Go USA!!

I've always been bereft and confused as to why the IOC thought it was a good idea to grant China these games. Duhhhhhhh. What a stupid choice.

So be it.......yea, I'm just a stupid fan. So....Let the games begin!! Can't wait.

[budwom]

The fireworks should do wonders for Beijing's already pristine air.

If you'd like to see ultra bigtime fireworks somewhat closer to home, the Montreal International Fireworks Competition is something to behold. Eight or nine different countries compete each summer, as individual countries put on amazing displays on successive Saturday nights....I don't know of any other fireworks of this magnitutde in North America.