Ontario's Adam van Koeverden led Canada's Olympic team into Beijing's National Stadium Friday to help China celebrate the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games.

The champion kayaker and several dozen of Canada's 332 athletes joined their international counterparts and competitors to kick off the Games in an elaborate ceremony.

Before their entrance, the athletes and tens of thousands of cheering fans were treated to extravagant fireworks displays and an elaborate traditional show with hundreds of dancers.

The Games' opening ceremonies mixed songs and dances performed by little children with a military march by Chinese soldiers. The performances highlighted some of China's greatest contributions to society and world history, such as the invention of paper, gunpowder, moveable type and the compass.

The ceremony started with a drum roll at 8:08 p.m. local time at the eighth second on August 8, 2008. The number eight is considered lucky in China.

The $100 million extravaganza left Canadian athletes awestruck.

"It was amazing. I could go through every adjective I know: amazing, incredible, exciting, awesome -- it still doesn't do it justice," van Koeverden said.

"The best part about it was walking along and looking up in the stands and seeing maple leaves -- Canadians in red standing up, and then Chinese in red standing up and waving Canadian flags. So many maple leaves. I felt like I was walking into the stadium in Toronto."

Some athletes described getting goose bumps; others noted the intense energy they felt.

"The coolest part was hearing everyone in the tunnel singing 'O Canada.' I had chills as I walked into the stadium," softball player Alison Bradley said.

Although the ceremony's performances showcased 5,000 years of Chinese history, they conspicuously omitted the Chinese revolution and made no reference to the late communist leader Mao Tse-tung.

Tickets for majestic ceremony were going for incredible prices before the show started.

"How much does a hot ticket like this go for?" an Australian woman with a ticket to the opening ceremony asked CTV News. "I was told when I picked them up last night that I could have sold them on the street for US$15,000."

China's 'coming out' party

With China emerging as one of the world's leading economic and military powers, the ceremonies offered the country a chance to show off its ascendancy before world leaders, including U.S. President George Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin. About 91,000 people watched the ceremonies live at the National Stadium in Beijing, and they had a potential television audience of four billion worldwide.

Many Chinese citizens hope that the Games will sway the opinion of the international community, which has often criticized China for its human rights record.

There is also a sense of national pride on the line, and showcasing Beijing as a world-class modern city, goes a long way for the Chinese.

Despite the excitement, security concerns remain a top priority. So far, Chinese authorities have been able to clamp down on much of the protest activities organized by international demonstrators upset about China's policies, including its human rights record.

Chinese authorities are also concerned about the threat of terrorism. A terrorist group wanting an independent Muslim state in the western region of the country recently released a video threatening an attack at the Games.

There were also reports Friday morning that in a separate incident, terrorists have threatened an Air China office in Tokyo, saying they will crash flights into venues in Beijing.

Worries about pollution in the host city have also been a concern. In an effort to clean up smog that consistently hangs over the city, the Chinese government has employed a number of strategies to clean up the air. On Friday, roads in key Beijing locations were closed off.

With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme in Beijing