Here’s a photo of fireworks exploding during the grand opening of the Aria Resort & Casino at CityCenter in Las Vegas. Vegas has been hit hard by the financial crisis, and now there’s a new, really big kid on the block with CityCenter.

The 67-acre, $8.5 billion mixed-use urban development center is a joint project between MGM Mirage and Dubai World and is said to be the biggest privately financed construction project in United States history. Aria is CityCenter’s centerpiece and includes a 150,000-square-foot casino and 4,004 hotel rooms and suites. The a while there were questions as to whether this complex would ever be finished. Now it’s here and it will be interesting to see the effect it has on Vegas. Not surprisingly, room rates are pretty low for December. If you’re able to check it out leave us your impressions in the comments!