at the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, to introduce the next Olympic Games site. An adaptation of the melody by Tan Dun and Wang Hesheng, chosen from more than 4,000 pieces, was played during the medal ceremonies at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It was also performed at the 2010 Shanghai Expo opening ceremony by an orchestra with the pianist Lang Lang. Zhao Dongming, head of Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games's culture and ceremonies department, commented that "This piece of music reminds you of the gold medals for the Beijing Olympics, which are made of gold and jade". This piece of Tan Dun, an Academy Award winning Chinese contemporary classical composer, cited by China Daily in 2008, described it as "glorious, heartwarming and full of respect... an iconic piece... almost a cultural symbol of China" and "From Puccini to the Beijing Olympics, this melody is a gift from the Chinese people to the world's athletes". In 2009 Russian singer Vitas, during the Chinese premiere of his program Sleepless Night, at least has also performed Mo Li Hua (never included in digital download until then). During the 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests the song became associated with the Jasmine Revolution, as organisers instructed protesters to play Mo Li Hua on their cell phones as a form of antigovernment protest. The song was placed on authorities' list of online censored materials. Videos of the song, including at least one from an official event (a 2006 Kenyan students welcome for Chinese president Hu Jintao), were removed from Chinese websites, and searches for the song's name were blocked. The censorship attracted widespread attention and was difficult because of the popularity of the song and its association with Chinese culture and history. At least one new version of the song, mentioning fear of arrests, has been developed by the activists as a response. In 2013, international superstar Celine Dion performed the song in Mandarin on Chinese state TV as part of its New Year Gala show welcoming in the Lunar New Year. She sang in a duet with Chinese soprano Song Zuying. Since 2018, Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen (Qudaibergen) has performed this song in Mandarin on four occasions, three years in a row, during New Year and Chinese New Year celebration galas on various TV stations including a duet with vocalist Luo Tianyi on 23rd January 2020. Lyrics There