BEIJING (Xinhua) - President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Friday at the National Stadium.
The ceremony is divided into 15 segments, including the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
As the ceremony started at 8 pm, the lights dimmed and a 24-second countdown followed.
The opening day of the 2022 Winter Olympics coincides with the “Beginning of Spring”, which is the first of the 24 solar terms of the year. It is used to count down the last seconds before the ceremony, reflecting the Chinese people’s understanding of time.
A pre-show presented by square dancers aged from five to over 70 years old was held at around 7:30 pm at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
The “Square Dance” is a creation of ordinary Chinese people and has become very popular. On public squares in large cities or small towns, people spontaneously gather together to joyfully sing and dance in their off-time.
This choreographed performance showcased the passion of the Chinese people in welcoming the Olympic Winter Games.
As an Olympic tradition, Greece, which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, was the first team to start the parade of athletes into the Bird’s Nest Stadium.
Future Olympic Winter Games hosts Italy (Milano-Cortina 2026) was the second-from-last to enter under a change approved by the IOC Executive Board in December 2019.
China, as hosts, marched in last. The Chinese Olympic delegation entered the opening ceremony with skeleton athlete Zhao Dan and speed skater Gao Tingyu as the flagbearers.
The Chinese contingent includes 177 athletes, the country’s largest-ever presence at the Winter Olympics.
Athletes of other countries and regions entered in stroke order of their team names as written in the Chinese characters, with Turkey following Greece.
The teams are led by a placard bearer dressed in costumes with ice and snow patterns. The placards, in the shape of a glowing snowflake with National/Regional Olympic Committee names on them, are inspired by the “Chinese knot,” which is an ancient Chinese craft of hand knitting, symbolizing solidarity and prosperity.
The Iranian national ski team comprising of three athletes, two trainers professional in Alpine skiing and cross-country skiing, has left Tehran for Beijing.
Atefeh Ahmadi and Hussein Saveh Shemshaki are representing Alpine skiing team under the supervision of Bagher Kalhor.
Sattar Seyd, cross-country skiing athlete, and Mostafa Mirhashemi, cross-country skiing trainer, could not accompany the Iranian team, because they have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease.
Following Beijing Winter Olympics Committee’s approval, Sattar Seyd and Mostafa Mirhashemi have been replaced with Danial Saveh Shemshaki and Mohammad-Taghi Shemshaki, athlete and trainer, respectively.