Olympics opening ceremony video leaked

This is the video you're not supposed to see...


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A South Korean news team has sneaked into the Beijing National Stadium and released a video of rehearsals for next week's opening ceremony.

The video of a mock procession of athletes was followed by exquisitely choreographed dance routines, and powerful images of massed ranks of kung fu fighters dressed in white.

Games organizers gave no immediate response to the leak. Sun Weide, the chief Olympics spokesman, said he had only just been made aware of the broadcast and had nothing to say. "We hope to surprise the world with an excellent performance," he said.

But it was not the first sight the public had been given of what promises to be a spectacular display: there was no disguising the fireworks display that lit up the night sky of the Chinese capital last week during another rehearsal.

To the organizers, the opening ceremony is the single most important element of these Games, mixing an almost religious element of ritual with a demonstration of national culture that is supposed to restore China to its historic role as one of the world's leading civilizations.