Opening Ceremony Rehearsals

An elderly woman gets an armchair view of the capital's decoration welcoming visitors to the Beijing Games on July 22nd.

Olympic staff lay a flag at Mount Everest base camp in Tibet.

The Bird's Nest is lit up from above during rehearsals on July 16th for the Opening Ceremony.

Fireworks explode over the National Aquatic Centre (Water Cube) on July 16th during a colourful rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony.

A performer in a light-bulb-studded suit with his teammates in front of the National Stadium this week.

Martial Arts students from Henan practise at a base on the outskirts of Beijing. More than 2.000 will perform at the Opening Ceremony.

A student squats in the shade of Olympic statues on a hot summer day in front of the National Stadium Bird's Nest

A blackboard in Sichuan shows students were learning about the Olympics when the earthquake struck on may 12th 2008

A 13 km-long Olympics Banner at the Great Wall consisting of the flags of all 205 countries and regions competing in the Games.

I downloaded these pictures from various albums of the SCMP, of course they are from various gifted photographers. Being an enthusiastic photographer myself I hope some of you share my passion and love these photos as much as I do - I'll keep you posted!