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8th of the 8th, 2008

• James Reynolds
• 7 Aug 08, 10:19 PM GMT

I write these words a few minutes after midnight in Beijing. It's now the 8th of the 8th, 2008 - the Olympics begin today. I've just been for a late night wander about Tiananmen Square. Late at night there were hundreds of people milling happily around the Olympic countdown clock - which now has just hours to go before it hits zero. When they saw our TV cameras, some shouted out "Go Olympics, Go China!"

I'm not sure if President Bush got to see any of this from his motorcade as he arrived in Beijing this evening. The most powerful man in the world has now arrived for the most important event ever held by the world's most populous country. George Bush is the first US president to attend an Olympics on foreign soil. He insists he's here to watch a bit of sport and cheer on the US team - not to talk about politics or to offend his hosts.

So, he got his offending - or plain speaking - out of the way just before he got to Beijing.

Earlier in the day, in Thailand, the - he said he had deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights.

China won't like what he had to say. The government wants everyone to come and applaud - not criticise. Tonight Chinese officials say that they oppose any interference in this country's internal affairs. That's a message directed straight to its most important overnight house guest - the President of the United States.

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Events foretold

• James Reynolds
• 7 Aug 08, 08:39 AM GMT

China once believed that you could see the Great Wall from space. But this morning the mist was so heavy that you could barely even see it from the ground.

Still, the latest leg of the Olympic torch relay at the Great Wall went ahead as planned. This morning (at 4am) we were driven to a portion of the wall at Badaling, just outside Beijing.

We were escorted to a stage set up by the wall. Several thousand cheerleaders all wearing yellow stood on the wall itself. A giant Olympic slogan ("One World One Dream") had been placed on the hillside - but the mist was so thick that you couldn't really see it properly.

Then, at 6.15am, before anything had even happened, we were handed a press release (distributed by the Propaganda Department of Badaling Special Zone Administrative Center.)

"At 6:30 on the morning of August 7th, the Olympic torch motorcade arrived at Badaling Great Wall scenic area. The Great Wall was covered in a holiday-like atmosphere with flags and sounds of gongs everywhere."

The press release went on...

"After the torch-bearer get to the top of the fourth watchtower in the north side and waved the torch at the crowd, 2008 pigeons flew up into the sky, and 2008 balloons were released [...] All the colour-bearers and volunteers were waving their flags and cheering for the completion of the torch relay."

It was slightly curious to read about all of this in the past tense when it hadn't even taken place.

But, of course, the events unfolded in the exact order foretold in the press release - no interruptions, no disruptions at all.

When you're entirely confident about your plans, you can write about the future as if it's already happened.

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