Among the many closely guarded secrets at the Beijing Olympics, theme song is at the very top of the secret list. 5 songs stood out from more than 10,000 submissions to be shortlisted.

Olympic theme songs tend to be ostentatiously majestic. My favourite out of the 5 though is a refreshing tune that evokes folk songs of old Beijing. It’s called 北京欢迎您/Bei3 jing1huan1 ying2 nin2/ Beijing Welcomes You. If the other songs are grand prime ribs, this one is a sorbet, like a dash of summer rain. The music video takes you to different parts of Beijing while a comprehensive congregation of celebrities from the Chinese speaking world each gets to sing one line. If you are patient enough to get through the entire 6:50 minutes, you will have a good taste of Beijing and who’s who of our show biz.