Pandas light up Asian Games

China has marked the opening of the 16th Asian Games in the southern city of Guangzhou with a lavish show of fireworks.

However, it was a group of pandas that stole the show.

The 12 giant pandas in the Guangzhou Xiangjiang Safari Park form the "Asian Games Panda Group".

The Asian Games, featuring more than 10,000 athletes from 45 countries, is second in scale to the Summer Olympics, last hosted in the Chinese capital two years ago.

After six years of planning and billions of dollars worth of investment, Guanghzhou city has been transformed to make sure it plays the perfect host.

Al Jazeera's Andy Richardson reports.