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UPDATED: August 8, 2008  
Empire State Gets Extra Glow
New York's iconic building celebrates Olympics with a light show of flags from participating countries
 
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A lighting ceremony is held at the New York Empire State Building (ESB) on August 7, 2008 to honor Beijing Olympic Games. On the first night of the event, the ESB lit the east/west sides of its famed tower in red and yellow—the two colors representing China's national flag, while lighting the north/south sides in red, white and blue honoring the United States (CHEN WEN)

 The New York Empire State Building (ESB) is going up in lights as it honors countries competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with an 18-night illumination spectacle.

New York's night sky glowed ever brighter on August 7, when the lights came on one day prior to the opening ceremony of the much anticipated Summer Games.

On the first night of the event, the ESB lit the east/west sides of its famed tower in red and yellow—the two colors representing China's national flag—in honor of the host country of the world sports event, while lighting the north/south sides in red, white and blue honoring the United States.

Peng Keyu, Consul General of China in New York, along with his wife Yang Jingmei, flips the light switch on a scale ESB model during the lighting ceremony on August 7, accompanied by James Connors, General Manager of ESB (CHEN WEN)

"This is a strong indication of the long-term friendly China-U.S. relations," said Peng Keyu, Consul General of China in New York, before he flipped the light switch on a scale ESB model during the lighting ceremony held in the main hall of the building on August 7.

The building will light each of the four sides of its tower with the colors of participating countries' national flags every night throughout duration of the Olympic Games (CHEN WEN)

According to James Connors, General Manager of ESB, the building will light each of the four sides of its tower with the colors of participating countries' national flags every night throughout duration of the Olympic Games.

This is the first time that the city's highest skyscraper has held a lighting ceremony for the Olympics, though it has done many ceremonies for several countries on various events, Connors told Beijing Review.

"The Olympics is an incredible wonderful platform for international cooperation," Connors said, adding, "so we think it's just natural for us to light up the building and celebrate the Games by showing the colors that represent those countries."

(Wang Yanjuan and Chen Wen reporting from New York)



 
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