Shadow dancers dressed in traditional costume perform choreography from their respective regions: Kazakh dancers from Kazakhstan, Kathakali dancers from India, Khon dancers from Thailand, Legong dancers from Bali, Chinese Opera performers and geisha from Japan. A historical panorama unfolds on the screens and carries us through 5,000 years of history.
In a first for Games ceremonies, Doha 2006 freatures professional dance troupes from China, Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kazakhstan and Syria among the cast of the Opening Ceremony.
''The caravans of the Silk Road come forth to greet the Seeker. Asia's many people welcome him, and bestow upon him the treasures of Asia -- silk and gold, spices and incense -- riches beyond his dreams.''
One of the world's oldest and most important historical trade routes, the 8,000-kilometre Silk Road was a complex series of interconnected passages through Asia that linked China with the Mediterranean. The Silk Road came into being when China's silk trade began to expand during the Han Dynasty (202 BC -- 220 AD) and it reached it zenith during the 8th century unter the pax Islamica imposed by the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Traders transported their precious wares in caravans -- some small and relatively defenceless, others stretching literally for miles. From the east came paper, gunpowder, sugar and rice, as well as silk, furs, ceramics, jade, bronze objects, lacquer and iron; and from the West, gold, silver, ivory, precious stones and glass. When the Silk Road was disrupted by the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, it was Arab sailors who maintained major trade liks with Asia through the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and then through the Pacific as far as Indonesia, China and the Philippines.
I'm sorry for the average quality, i'll try to find a better quality video in the future.
PS: Video originaly uploaded in Tudou, credits to the original footage. I do not claim ownership of this video or event, just published for entertaining purposes.
