Ordinary stage

Some 3,000 people from many walks of life were invited to take part in the opening ceremony, which featured no stars or professional performers.

Asked whether she was nervous singing the Olympic anthem as the ceremony was broadcast worldwide, Han Shuxin, 6, a member of the Malanhua Choir, who only started to learn music in September, said she was not afraid to show her vocal talent.

The choir comprises 44 students from Fuping, Hebei province, a mountainous area lifted out of poverty two years ago.

The choristers, age 6 to 12, had no experience performing onstage. Their parents are farmers or migrant workers.

Liu Kai, a teacher in charge of the students, said they were selected from five village schools. Some of the schools were only able to provide music classes for the young choir members in September, when they started their training.

"Some of them could only sing simple children's songs when I first met them. After five months' training, they could sing the Olympic anthem in Greek," Liu said proudly.

Professional music teachers and language experts also visited the children over the past five months.

Liu said many of the children's parents had little knowledge of the Olympic Games, but merely thought that their offspring were receiving free instruction in music.

Some of the students walk hours to school from their homes in the mountains.

Singing at the opening ceremony in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, was the first time many of them had visited the Chinese capital.