The 2010 Asian Games opening ceremony officially began at 8:00pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on November 12, 2010. The ceremony took place along the Pearl River on Haixinsha Island, mark it the first time in history that an Asian Games ceremony was held outside the main Games stadium. In front of 30,000 spectators,[1] it lasted four hours, featured about 6,000 performers,[2] with at least 40,000 of fireworks.[3] The ceremony was directed and choreographed by Chen Weiya (陈维亚), who was assistant director to Zhang Yimou in 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and was filmed by Guangzhou Asian Games Broadcasting (GAB).[4]