Teppei Okuno applauded with his colleagues in the office when the Shenzhou-VII crew capsule landed on the Inner Mongolia steppe on Sunday afternoon.

"The Shenzhou-VII mission is really exciting news to lighten the National Holiday."

"In 2008, the eyes of the world are on China. We fought against natural disasters, we hosted the Olympics, and we even walked in space. Wow, I have to say, we are cool," Teppei said.

Teppei has a Japanese father. After graduation from Tokyo University, he and his mother, who is Chinese, moved to Shanghai in 1997 and he applied for Chinese nationality.

"I am so proud of my country and my compatriots and happy that I am here with other people going through all the joys and pains for China in 2008," Teppei said.

OLYMPICS PUSH CHINA TO CENTER STAGE

Teppei watched the opening gala at home with his mother. He said both of them were astonished by the show that was masterminded by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

On Aug. 8, the start of the Olympic Games was hailed by TIME magazine (Asia edition) in its "Beijing 8/8/08" cover story published on Aug. 18 as an event that "heralded the return of China to the center of the world's stage."

Peter M. Herford, the former producer of the U.S. show "60 Minutes" who is now a guest professor teaching journalism at Shantou University in south China's Guangdong Province, said "the opening was the single event that impressed the outside world more than others. So many aspects of China came together."

"And more that, the use of state-of-the-art tools to produce the spectacle underlined China's modern infrastructure in a way no other event could have accomplished," Herford said.

Herford added that the year 2008 was certainly the "Year of China" and "other events of 2008 cannot take away from the joy of the Olympics."

Earlier this March, the riot in Tibet's capital Lhasa led to the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one policeman. During the overseas legs of the Olympic flame relay, particularly in France, Tibetan separatists and their supporters, protested for an "independent Tibet" and grappled with torchbearers.

All these unexpected disturbances, not to mention the May 12 earthquake which has been the worst natural disaster for China in the past 30 years, shadowed the nation's preparation for the Olympics, but China's resolution to host a successful Olympics was not disturbed.