Fake fireworks display at Beijing Olympics

The country that gave the world counterfeit toys and fake toothpaste also gave 3 billion television viewers a bogus fireworks show during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games, according to media reports.

As the ceremony got underway a series of spectacular giant footprints outlined in fireworks made their way across Beijing from Tiananmen Square to the Olympic 'birds nest' stadium.

It has now been revealed that at least this part of the television broadcast was faked by using computer generated images. The images of the footprints were created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment.

The Beijing organisers have blamed the use of computer generated images on the difficulty the helicopter would face in filming the sequence of giant footsteps.