At the Olympics opening ceremony on August 8, the 9-year-old Lin Miaoke took center-stage and sang an ode to the motherland, but the voice heard around the world belonged to 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, said Chen Qigang, the ceremony’s music director, in an interview with the State media on August 11. According to Chen, Yang was yanked at the last minute because her looks were deemed not suitable by a senior Communist Potliburo member. "It was for the national interest," said Chen.  

A google search shows websites inside China that had previously reported on the lip-syncing now return errors stating the web page is no longer available.

On the day of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony, with the help of a meteorology expert from Russia, the Chinese Meteorology department launched 1104 rain dispersal rockets at 21 operation sites in Beijing between 4:23pm to 11:39pm to stop a storm cloud that was coming from the southwest. The Chinese Meteorology experts claimed that it was the largest organized and best executed weather modification operation used in Olympic history and the first ever used in China.

The weather forecast called for a rainy weather forecast for the Olympic opening night with 90 percent humidity. Rain had been cited as the biggest threat to the Olympic opening by the chief director of the ceremony Zhang Yimou days ahead of the opening night. The weather services said that Baoding City of Hebei Province, to the southwest of Beijing received the biggest rainfall of 100 millimeters Friday night, and Beijing’s Fangshan District recorded a rainfall of 25 millimeters.

Source: Xinhua, August 9. 2008
http://www.bj.xinhua.org/bjpd_sdzx/2008-08/09/content_14075111.htm http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-08/09/content_9079637.htm

Ever since the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) switched VOA and RFA from Eutelsat W5 to Asiasat 3S on July 30, more and more audience members from mainland China have been complaining that they are unable to receive the signals from VOA and RFA.  They say that the signals were weak and frequently interfered with in July but that this has worsened and there has been no signal since early August.  Asiasat 3S is reportedly controlled by the Chinese Communist regime.

In addition to VOA and RFA programs, Eutelsat also carried signals for New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), an independent and nonprofit television broadcaster based in New York City. The BBG’s decision to switch the satellite companies BBG has subsequently shutdown the broadcasting signals of NTDTV into China.  NTDTV is known for broadcasting uncensored information into China and can be potentially viewed by millions of audience members inside China.

Source: New Tang Dynasty Television, August 12, 2008 http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/gb/2008/08/12/a183781.html

Since July, more and more Chinese audience members have been complaining that it is very difficult to receive the signal from Voice of America and Radio Free Asia’s broadcasting to China programs. The signal has been totally interrupted since the beginning of August.

Source:
The Epoch Times, August 12, 2008-8-12
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/8/8/12/n2225683.htm