Olympic show 'all sparkle, no smoke'

The traditional Chinese spectacle of fireworks displays will light up Beijing the night of the Olympics' opening ceremony - but the surrounding air will remain relatively clear thanks to highly advanced pyrotechnics.

Fireworks with magnetic valves to control explosions of compressed air will produce just 20 percent of the smoke emitted from traditional chemical blasts, according to information released yesterday by the office of the Hi-Tech Olympic Games Action Plan.

"The whole process will not generate strong and smelly smoke," Yang Chunyi, head of the technology department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games, said of the green innovation in store for August 8.