The Olympics opening ceremony has drawn to a close in Beijing this evening.

Many of the world's heads of state were in the Bird's Nest stadium for the visual spectacular, which featured a total of 14,000 people performing in front of 91,000 spectators.

The ceremony was broadcast to a potential TV audience of billions and was the biggest and mostly costly opening ceremony in the history of the Games, and is unlikely to ever be matched.

London officials have already admitted they will not be able to commit anything like the same resources to the event in 2012.

The official opening was carried out by Hu Jintao, president of the People's

Republic of China, at the end of a ceremony that lasted three and a half hours.

In his speech at the end of the ceremony, Jacques Rogge, president of the

International Olympic Committee, said: "For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games. Tonight that dream comes true."

He also said China was a "host to the present and a gateway to the future".

American president George Bush, Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, and French president Nicolas Sarkozy were among the dignitaries at the event.

The Chinese authorities imposed the strictest of security precautions and deployed an extra 100,000 soldiers and police on the streets.

Beijing's international airport was closed for the duration of the ceremony and a no-fly zone imposed in the air above the city, while the Bird's Nest stadium was protected by rows of tall fences, surveillance cameras and anti-aircraft missile batteries.