Olympic organisers are praying that it doesn’t rain on the athletes’ parade at next Friday’s opening ceremony, but a little drizzle might in fact add some fizzle to the lavish show.

“The lighting effects will be more beautiful with a bit of rain,” said Yves Pepin, a French hi-tech wizard, who is a senior member of the creative team for the 3-1/2 hour extravaganza.

What the team fears is the sort of deluge that can batter the Chinese capital during August. “If it rains a lot then life will get very difficult. We have a plan B if this happens and some parts of the show will have to be downsized, although not cut altogether,” said Pepin, giving nothing more away.

With this in mind, a long range weather forecast released on Sunday provides some hope — there is a 41 percent chance of rain on Aug. 8, but a prolonged drenching is unlikely, according to Beijing’s Meteorological Bureau.

Even if it does rain, most of the 91,000 spectators in the Bird’s Nest will be fine thanks to a broad roof that extends over the seating area. The athletes and performers aren’t quite so lucky because plans for a fully retractable roof were abandoned to save costs, which means the arena is exposed to the elements.

In the nation that invented gunpowder, fireworks look certain to play a major role in the opening and closing ceremonies, but here too, the Chinese are quietly confident that their plans won’t be blown apart by the weather.

“With modern firework techniques, our firework display will not be affected by rain,” said Wang Yubin, deputy chief engineer at the Meteorological Bureau.

PHOTO: Fireworks light the sky as part of a general rehearsal for the opening ceremony for the Olympic games August 2, 2008 REUTERS/Jason Lee

UPDATE: I’ve added a video of the fireworks. Check it out below:

First the Chinese authorities provided foreigners with a list of dos and don’ts for when they visit the games. Now Human Rights Watch has got into the act, providing foreign journalists with its own booklet giving advice on how to report out of China.

The Reporters’ Guide gives useful information on what do if police detain you (don’t hit them), what to do if your reporting rights are not respected (complain) and what to do to prevent anyone snooping on your stories or emails (one suggestion — use gmail and add an ’s’ at the end of http in the URL).

When China was awarded the Games it promised media the same freedom to report as they had enjoyed at previous Olympics. Perhaps Beijing thought only statistics-obsessed sports hacks would turn up, but if so they are likely to be disappointed with journalists from around the world preparing to descend on China in the coming weeks, many of them planning to follow everything but the athletes.

Human Rights Watch believes the “freedom to report” message has not filtered down to zealous security staff, who are unused to the nosey habits of foreign media. To help convince local officialdom that visitors can indeed talk to just about anyone they want to during the games, the booklet even prints out in Chinese the temporary regulations that give the 21,600 accredited reporters the right to rove.

That said, the main message for visitors is not to get the locals into trouble and even recommends that correspondents change the names of any Chinese dissidents they might interview to prevent unwelcome attention from the police once the media circus has moved on.

“One thing is certain, all the foreigners will be able to leave China after the games, but the locals who help them won’t be able to go anywhere,” said Human Rights Watch media director, Minky Worden.

The HRW booklet can be downloaded on its website http://www.hrw.org/.

 Pix from top: Journalists and visitors stand outside the Beijing Olympics Main Press Centre (MPC) during its opening in Beijing July 8, 2008. The building, including the International Broadcast Centre, on the Olympic Green will house the 21,600 media accredited to the Games with up to 10,000 more unaccredited reporters being catered for at the Beijing International Media Centre. A journalist works at the Main Press Workroom of Beijing Olympics Main Press Centre (MPC) during its opening in Beijing July 8, 2008. (Snaps by Claro Cortes IV). Picture of media at a Yao Ming news conference in Beijing on June 26 by David Gray.