I have to say yes when I watched this years opening ceremony I was in awe, the fireworks put me in awe it had to be one of the most beautiful things that I have ever seen.
I believe Athens opening ceremony was undouptdly much better, had a taste of measure that the chinese lost...Neither money nor manpower makes a ceremony successful (That doesn't mean that the chinese one was not). Moreover, the scene of a flying old chinese man, flying like a superman, was a little bit funny in my eyes......
this is pretty biased as half the people answer this question are probably asian, if u were to ask european sor greeks they would say athens would better
Athenian ceremony was much more delicate and "clean", blue and white colors, no crowded show-offs, clearly showed the nation's trradition and history in an order.
In Beijing they focused on manpower, gave me the feeling that there was no coherence, no chronological order, they just focused on gunpowder and the invention of paper.
There were patterns repeated, ie the rising scripts, and also significant influences from the Athenian opening. The programm seemed to be "slow" in some parts.
The chinese ceremony could have been better. Instead of using the masses to cause an awe to the viewer, they could have been more simple and focus on the essence.
For no reason would i say i didn't like the chinese ceremony. I only think that due to their will to show the rest of the world how great they are they missed the point. Simplicity and not so much of a show-off would have been better for me.
I would give athens an 9/10 and beijing a 8/10.