The artistic section, dubbed "Sailing" began at 8:06pm. The beginning saw a drop of water shown on eight giant retractable screens followed by a boy sat in a giant leaf slowly descending from the sky. By this time the centre stage was flooded with water and the men on horseback rode onto the arena. The next portion "Water of the Earth" saw dancers perform and form a series of flowers. Initially five smaller flowers were formed before eventually the performers came together to form one big flower bloom. Children dancers then came out with lanterns followed by neon light dancers. Afterwards the segment "The Ship in the Ocean" saw two main dancers perform in the centre stage along with others in the background. A giant expedition boat then entered the stage with dancers acting as waves in an intense storm. The boat measured 28.8 metres long, 8 metres wide and 18 metres high. The boat then reached its destination. In the penultimate segment, which was known as "Sail of the White Cloud", Chinese pianist Lang Lang opened with song "Light". The song was sung by Zhang Ziyi and written by lyricist Albert Leung and composer Li Hai-ying. 180 dancers twirled in the air and converged on the water. Watercraft riders then created a series of water displays. High wire performers then put up a series of acts in front of the giant screens to form waves, seesaws, smiley faces, birds and other shapes. Before going into the final segment, a one-minute segment known as the "Green Minute" showed people from each district of Guangzhou bring pots of plants to display, displaying Guangzhou as a green city. The last segment known as "Invitation from the City of Flowers" started with a stage full of drummers. A group of hostesses joined the performance. China's Wei Wei, Tang Jing, Hong Kong's Joey Yung, Taiwan's David Tao and South Korea's Kim Hyun Joong performed the games' official song "Sunshine Again". The cauldron was then reveal when it emerged from the ground as a giant flame cauldron tower. Fireworks then lit up the area, followed by watercraft and boat exhibitions.
Parade of Nations
All athletes and officials from 44 National Olympic Committees and Kuwait entered the site in English alphabetical order as per Olympic Council of Asia protocol with the host country entering last. Due to the NOC suspension, Kuwaiti athletes entered the site as the penultimate team under the Olympic flag with the banner "Athletes from Kuwait". Each NOC was led by a national flagbearer. During the parade of the NOCs, a local song from each country was played when the country marched to the arena. Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political disputes. Taiwan entered with the compromised name and flag of "Chinese Taipei" under T. Unlike last edition's opening ceremony, the two Korea's marched separately from each other. South Korea entered as "Korea" under K, while North Korea entered as "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" under D. Below is list of national flagbearer during the ceremony.
Afterwards, Premier of the People's Republic of ChinaWen Jiabao declared the Games to be officially open, making him the first and as of 2018 only non-head of state to open the Asian Games. It was followed was a large scale of fireworks erupt from the Canton Tower and Pearl River delta once again. Sun Nan and Mao Amin then performed the official theme song "Reunion", and flag of OCA was carried in by eight athletes. The eight athletes who carried in the flag were:
As flag of the OCA was raised, the official anthem of OCA was played. Fu Haifeng took the athlete's oath while gymnastics referee, Yan Ninan took the judge's oath.
Lighting ceremony
In the closing stages, dragon boatteam leader Wu Guochong carried the torch through the Pearl River into the stage. The torch was relayed by three athletes, before being passed to the final torchbearer. The three were:
The final torchbearer, Olympic gold medalist diverHe Chong was accompanied by two children, Xiong Yuxiang and daughter of director, Chen Jiayu. The trio used the flame to light the fuse of a traditional Chinese firecraker that produced an explosion which ignited the cauldron tower directly above it. Song Zuying then performed the song "Smile". Fireworks were set off in the air and around the arena to conclude the opening ceremony.
