Special report:   2008 Olympic Games 

    LOS ANGELES, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Millions of spectators from around the world cheered as the Beijing Olympic Float passed at the renowned Pasadena Tournament of Rose Parade on Tuesday.

    It was under the joint effort of people from all circles that the Beijing Olympic Float made a shining debut in front of the American people on the first day of 2008.

The 2008 Olympic-themed Chinese float "One World, One Dream" takes part in the 119th annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California Jan. 1, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    This was the first time that the Chinese people from the Chinese mainland and overseas Chinese have joined their hands in participating in the grand gala in its 119th-year history.

    The float represented the good wills of overseas Chinese to the upcoming Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The theme of the 2008 Rose Parade is "Passport to the World Celebrations", and the Beijing Olympic Float themed "One World, One Dream" was a generous gift from the Beijing Olympic Games to the American people and the Parade, according to organizers.

    Decorated by fresh roses, the 16 by 6 meters Beijing Olympic Float adopted both the Olympic image elements - the Chinese Seal -and Beijing image elements - the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest of the Temple of Heaven in its designing. Three small platforms have been built atop the Float for performers to make performance.     

    On the "Ethereal Color and Celestial Fragrance" showcase area, four performers played the martial male role, young male role, ladies' role and young girls' role respectively to showcase different traditional costumes and styles of the quintessence of the Chinese culture - the Peking Opera.

    In the "Blossoms of colors" area, four acrobats dressed in flower pistil patterns performed the Soft Merit, indicating the longing for vigorous life. In the "Dancing Butterflies" area, two acrobats dressed in butterfly patterns played ballet with acrobatic skills, just like a pair of butterflies flying and dancing among the flowers.

    Based on the traditional float tournaments, 52 high-school students and 53 performers followed the Beijing Olympic Float on both sides in a square array. They sang and danced along the 10-kilometer parade route to bring good wills from Beijing, the Beijing Olympic Games and the overseas Chinese to the whole world.

    In front of the Float, two pairs of young students dressed in festival costumes and with Chinese lanterns in their hands danced and delivered greetings from Beijing. Behind them were 26 young girls dressed in green and with red fans in their hands - indicating the beauty of life and youth. On the right side, 18 students wearing Chinese lantern-style costumes performed with lanterns in hands to lighten the festival atmosphere.

    On the left side, seven acrobats played the diabolos in procession. The whirling of diabolos echoed by the background music generated a beautiful and harmonious rhythm; nine young girls dressed in vivid colors danced with flower plates in hands, just like lotus fluttering and butterflies dancing in wind.

The 2008 Olympic-themed Chinese float "One World, One Dream" takes part in the 119th annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California Jan. 1, 2008. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Behind the Float, 30 dancers dressed in Chinese ethnic costumes danced with different ethnic features to reflect the harmony of ethnic groups as well as their hospitalities. Performers from the China National Acrobatic Troupe dressed up as five Fuwa to interact with spectators around the Float, delivering sincere invitations to Beijing.

    According to the designers of the Float, as the Chinese people use mascots to express their good wishes and hopes in their traditional culture, the five Fuwa symbolize different meanings and express good wishes to children all over the world. Moreover, the Fuwa not only invite the people worldwide to join in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, but also send prosperity, joy, passion, health and good luck to every continent on the earth.

    The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will build a bridge of world peace and friendship to bring the hearts of people together.

    Ron Miziker, Chief Director of the Pasadena Tournament of Rose Parade and a renowned Hollywood director, visited Beijing last November to track the preparations of the Beijing Olympic Float. After watching the rehearsal, he was greatly impressed and said that Beijing's program was far beyond his imagination.

    To help the Beijing Olympic Float to participate in the 2008 Pasadena Tournament of Rose Parade, the Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations called on the Chinese community in the US to make contributions actively. Avery Dennison, a U.S.-based company contributed 200,000 dollars to the Beijing Olympic Float. Ten Chinese community leaders in the United States donated 20,000 dollars each to ensure the design and production of the Float finish on time.