Beijing Olympics open with a scene of calm amid the turmoil of reality

BEIJING — A crowd gathered on the stadium floor, dozens of people holding luminescent green poles, waving them overhead like giant blades of grass in a spring breeze.

A child blew on a dandelion, sending white seeds into the air as fireworks streamed through the night sky.

The opening ceremony for the 2022 Beijing Olympics featured no big dance numbers, no pop stars or professional actors. Organizers instead gathered a cast of common people from across China — many of them young —