London Mayor Boris Johnson says he spent all night dreaming about the opening ceremony and thinks it was better than China's stunning show four years ago.

"Call me chauvinistic, call me jingoistic, but I think we knocked the spots off Beijing last night," Johnson said.

"From the beginning I was crying like a baby. I just thought it was brilliant."

He lauded the cultural complexity of Danny Boyle's production.

"We weren't just Beefeaters and Big Ben. It was the real story of this country," he said.

— Shawn Pogatchnik — Twitter http://twitter.com/ShawnPogatchnik

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