Beijing Olympics starts on 8-8-8 at 8:08 pm

{image-beijing+dark rings_07082008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Beijing, Aug 7: The Opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics is scheduled to start on 8-8-2008, at 08:08:08 pm China Standard Time in Beijing.

The number 8 is a lucky number in Chinese culture. That is why the Beijing Olympics chose to start at 8 pm on August 8 (8/8/08). In Chinese, a day is considered lucky if it sounds like a word that is positive. The words for the number eight are ba in Mandarin and paat in Cantonese, which sound similar to the words for prosperity, fa in Mandarin and faat in Cantonese.

As per the Indian standard Time Olympics inauguration will begin at 5.38.08 pm on Friday, August 8.

In New York the time of the inauguration is 8.08:08 am, in Baghdad it is 3.08 pm. In London inaugural time is 1:08 pm and in Sydney it is 10:08 pm.

POSSIBLE RAIN FOR THE INAUGURATION

On Friday August 8th, during the inaugural ceremony, the Chinese capital may experience cloudy skies and even some rain and electrical storms, warned the director of Beijing's Meteorology Institute, Guo Hu.

While Wang Jianjie, Deputy Director of the Chinese Meteorology Bureau said that it is unlikely for heavy rain on the opening day, but he did not exclude the possibility of intermittent drizzle.

However, the experts stress that although there might be rain during the opening ceremony, the great show which includes a fire works display will not be affected.

OneIndia News