"China is fantastic, and the Beijing Olympics was one of the most successful Olympics in history," said Mikhail Titarenko, chairman of the Russia-China Friendship Association and also a scholar, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Titarenko, who attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, was left with a deep impression with the eye-catching performance.

He said the ceremony was a perfect combination of modern technology and traditional Chinese civilization.

"The Beijing Olympics were a showcase of the Chinese civilization, which can be traced back to thousands of years ago, as well as the achievements China has made since it adopted the policy of reform and opening-up in 1978," said Titarenko.

"It put the Four Great Inventions of ancient China on display in a vivid and general way."

The charms of the Chinese culture were also demonstrated when thousands of actors performed the shadow boxing and recited Lun Yu, or Analects of Confucius, a book recording the words and deeds of ancient Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, he said.

Titarenko felt delighted for the progress China has made. "The Beijing Olympics was well-organized, and the excellent performance of the Chinese athletes added glory to their country," he said.

"China fared better and better in the Olympics. Congratulations!" he said.

Meanwhile, China has attached great importance to public sports movement, he said, noting that a lot of Chinese people gather in parks to do exercises which will draw more to sports activities and build up the people's health.

As a scholar who devotes his life to studying China and boosting China-Russia ties, Titarenko said the Beijing Olympics will again arouse Russians' interest in China after the reciprocal national-theme years in the two countries.

Russia and China should make concerted efforts to spread the Chinese culture and the seed of China-Russia friendship among the Russian people, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2008)