| Part of2022 Winter Olympics | |
.jpg) The cauldron of the games | |
 | |
| Date | 4 February 2022; 3 years ago (2022-02-04) |
|---|---|
| Time | 20:00 – 22:20 (UTC+8, approximate) |
| Venue | Beijing National Stadium |
| Location | Beijing,China |
| Coordinates | 39°59′30″N116°23′26″E / 39.99167°N 116.39056°E /39.99167; 116.39056 |
| Theme | One World, One Family |
| Filmed by | Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) |
| Footage | 2022 Winter Games Opening Ceremony in Olympic Channel onYouTube |
The2022 Winter Olympics opening ceremony was held atBeijing National Stadium,China on 4 February 2022. As mandated by theOlympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's winter culture and modern history.[1] The Games were officially opened byXi Jinping,general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party andpresident of the People's Republic of China.[2]
The opening ceremony was directed by film director and producerZhang Yimou, who has previously directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the2008 Summer Olympics, which was China's first time hosting the Olympics.[3][4][5]
The world's largest LED screen (10,552 square metres (113,580 sq ft) and uses 40,000 LED modules) was unveiled at the opening ceremony.[6]
The ceremony was also marked bydiplomatic boycotts from certain countries among otherconcerns and controversies.
The themes of the opening ceremony are:
As stated by Zhang Yimou, in an Olympic first, all of the segments along with the International Olympic Committee protocols, were merged into one integrated programme in the opening ceremony.
The final stage in preparations for the event and performance stages at the Bird's Nest were completed in October.[9] A full-scale dress rehearsal was held on 22 January 2022, with approximately 4000 participants featuring in it.[9]
A 30-minute pre-show performance kicked off at 19:25, featuring square dancers aged from five to over 70 years old.[10] Apart from the live performances, people from other Chinese cities joined the pre-show performances through video recording. The pre-show performance was performed primarily by residents ofBeijing andHebei Province, showcasing the passion of the Chinese people in welcoming the Olympic Winter Games.[11]
At 20:00, the words "过年好" (guònián hǎo,lit. "Happy New Year") and "HappyChinese New Year" appeared on the stage after the 30-minute long performances, symbolizing China's hospitality and celebrations of the traditional Chinese festival.
Chineseparamount leaderXi Jinping, Chinese First LadyPeng Liyuan, IOC PresidentThomas Bach, international dignitaries and various Chinese government officials arrived at the stadium before the official start of the ceremony, receiving huge cheers and welcome from the crowds and the performers from the pre-show performances.[12]
The ceremony began with a 24-second countdown, which represented the 24th Winter Olympics as well as the24 solar terms in theChinese calendar,[13] whereLichun (ecliptic longitude 315°), Feb 4, is generally regarded as the"Beginning of spring".[10] After the countdown, dancers carried tall and flexible glowing green stalks, showing the lifecycle of the dandelion, which eventually turned white and floated up into the sky as the seeds dispersed,[14] followed by fireworks displaying the words "立春" (lìchūn,lit. "the beginning of spring") and "Spring", celebrating thebeginning of spring.[15] At the beginning of the ceremony, a film about Dundbulag rock carvings fromAltay in theAltay Prefecture was shown. Skiing is likely to originate from Altay per the 2015 Altay Declaration made by scholars from 18 countries.[16][17]
Chinese President Xi Jinping and IOC President Thomas Bach were then introduced by the MCs, receiving warm welcome from the crowds again.[12]
Zhu De'en, a trumpeter, played a patriotic Chinese song "My People, My Country". Twelve children lifted the national flag of China and entered the stadium, symbolizing the legacy of Beijing 2008 opening ceremony. They then passed the national flag to a line of representatives from different strata of society and56 ethnic groups of China, symbolizing national unity and the deep relationships between the national flag and the citizens. The representatives then handed over the flag to 8PLAGFHonor Guard soldiers, who then unfurled and raised the flag while the crowd sang theChinese national anthem.[15]
The Olympic Rings performance began with the giant LED screens showing a drop of ink that had fallen from the sky, turning into seething, rolling waves of theYellow River, from which an ice cube crystallizes. 24 "laser beams" sequentially "carve" the names of cities and countries of23 previous Winter Olympics in Chinese and English on this cube. The 24th was shown when the rays merged into a single beam, which "cut out" "2022 BEIJING CHINA". Six hockey players then entered the stadium and swung at a massive LED hockey puck. It flew into the cube, slowly fracturing it as the five iceOlympic rings rose from inside. Next, a Chinese ice door opened behind them, and athletes began to enter the parade of nations.[18][15][19]
Following the formation of the ice Olympic Rings, greetings appeared in the stadium in many languages of the world. Per tradition, the national team ofGreece, the country of origin ofOlympics marched first. The country that will host the nextWinter Olympics,Italy, marched before the host nation, China, which entered last. The patriotic song "Ode to the Motherland" was played whenChina entered the stadium. Other teams, in the same practice of the opening ceremony of the2008 Summer Olympics, entered in acollation method based on their countries names as written inSimplified Chinese characters and is similar tothat used in Chinese dictionaries. The names were sorted by the number ofstrokes in the first character of the name, then by the stroke order of the character (in thestroke count method order), then the number of strokes and stroke order of the second character, then next character and so on.[20] In front of each country's delegation, a Chinese representative carried a snowflake-shaped sign with the name of the delegation in both English and Chinese. After the parade, all such "snowflakes" of the participating delegations formed a large "snowflake" to symbolise the world coming together.[21]
Background music used during the parade of nations:
Cai Qi, President of theBeijing 2022 organizing committee delivered a speech to thank and welcome the athletes, offering words of peace and unity.[21] IOC PresidentThomas Bach then gave his speech in which he thanked China for being gracious hosts and also extended gratitude to those on the doctors and nurses combating the globalCOVID-19 pandemic. Bach urged world leaders to "give peace a chance" amid the traditional Olympic truce[22][18] and instructed athletes to "show how the world would look like, if we all respect the same rules and each other".[19] He also called for the end of various types of discrimination, especially against Asians worldwide.[21]
On IOC President Thomas Bach's invitation, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing officially open.
Chinese:“我宣布，北京第24届冬季奥林匹克运动会...开幕！”;pinyin:Wǒ xuānbù, běijīng dì èrshísì jiè dōngjì àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì...kāimù;lit. 'I declare the XXIV Olympic Winter Games of Beijing ... open!'
— Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Fireworks then shined the sky, forming the shape of a "Welcome Pine", one of the symbols of theHuangshan, symbolizing China's warm welcome to guests from all over the world.[15]
The performance began by a group of young people consisted of local and foreign university students, walking on the stage with the Chinese song "Let the World be Filled with Love" (让世界充满爱, Ràng shìjiè chōngmǎn ài) sung in the background. After they walked past the stage, the slogan "Together for a shared future" (一起向未来, Yīqǐ xiàng wèilái) in both English and Chinese appeared. Later, a group of ice skaters on the LED floor, carving out paths for them to follow, all to the theme ofJohn Lennon's "Imagine"cover song[12][23] The Olympic motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together" (Chinese:更快、更高、更强、更团结;pinyin:Gèng kuài, gèng gāo, gèng qiáng, gèng tuánjié;lit. 'Faster', 'higher', 'stronger', 'more united') also in both English and Chinese then appeared.[15]
The Olympic Flag entered into the stadium. The flag bearers were:
TheOlympic Anthem was sung inGreek by the Malanhua'er Children's Choir, a choir of 44 children from the mountains ofFuping County,Baoding,Hebei Province.[24][18][22][15]
Cross-country skierWang Qiang and snowboard halfpipe athleteLiu Jiayu represented the athletes sworn the Olympic oath, while aerials judgeTao Yongchun and head of the Chinese coaching team in snowboard parallel giant slalomJi Xiao'ou represented judges and coaches, respectively.
"We promise to take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules and in the spirit of fair play, inclusion and quality. Together we stand in solidarity and commit ourselves to sport without doping, without cheating, without any form of discrimination. We do this for the honour of our teams, in respect for the Fundamental Principles of Olympism, and to make the world a better place through sport."
After the Olympic vows, a short film "Champions of Tomorrow" was shown on the screen of the stadium, showing toddlers taking their first steps in winter sports, set to the rendition of Chinese nursery rhymeTwo Tigers. Although the toddlers fell over and over again, they did not lose heart and persisted.[15]
In the performance, hundreds of children wandered around the center stage singing the theme song of the ceremony titled “Snowflake”. The LED floor beneath them used large-scalemotion capture to illuminate glows of snowflakes and stars under their feet. The children played happily, holding dove lamps and lanterns, leaving trails of glittering snowflakes as they went.[15] As the song and dance came to a close, the children surrounded a massive snowflake in a heart-shaped formation while singing. The large snowflake consisted of 91 snowflake-shaped placards used for each participating country during the "Parade of Nations".[25] The snowflake theme ran through the entire ceremony representing solidarity and prosperity.[18]
At 22:10, theOlympic Flame fromOlympia reached the stadium. After the Olympic anthem, it was passed around the stadium by five athletes born in the 1950s (Zhao Weichang), 1960s (Li Yan), 1970s (Yang Yang (A)), 1980s (Su Bingtian) and 1990s (Zhou Yang). The final torch-runners were two athletes born in the 2000s: SkierDinigeer Yilamujiang and Nordic mixed skierZhao Jiawen, who fitted the torch carrying Olympic flame in the center of the large "snowflake" engraved with the names of the 91 countries competing.[19] For the first time in Olympic history the passing torch itself formed the main flame of the Olympic cauldron, known as a "microflame" (微火, Wéi huǒ). DirectorZhang Yimou stated that the tiny flame symbolisedenvironmental sustainability and set the standards for a "carbon-neutral" game.[15][26][18][27]
The following were the seven final torch-runners:[15]
Due to the backlash China received for thepersecution of Uyghurs in China, several Western media outlets speculated about the message China was intending to send with Dilnigeer's selection.[29][30][31][32][33]
National Anthem of the People's Republic of China
Olympic Anthem – Sang by the Malanhua'er Children's Choir.People's Republic of China –Heads of government and state
Argentina –Alberto Fernandez,President of Argentina[35]
Bosnia and Herzegovina –Zoran Tegeltija,Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina[citation needed]
Ecuador –Guillermo Lasso,President of Ecuador[36]
Egypt –Abdel Fattah el-Sisi,President of Egypt[37]
Kazakhstan –Kassym-Jomart Tokayev,President of Kazakhstan[38]
Kyrgyzstan –Sadyr Japarov,President of Kyrgyzstan[39]
Macau SAR –Ho Iat-seng,Chief Executive of Macau[40]
Mongolia –Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene,Prime Minister of Mongolia[41]
Pakistan –Imran Khan,Prime Minister of Pakistan[42] andFahmida Mirza,Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC)[43]
Papua New Guinea —James Marape,Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea[44]
Poland –Andrzej Duda,President of Poland[45]
Russia –Vladimir Putin,President of Russia[46]
Serbia –Aleksandar Vučić,President of Serbia[47]
Singapore –Halimah Yacob,President of Singapore[44]
Tajikistan –Emomali Rahmon,President of Tajikistan[48]
Turkmenistan –Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow,President of Turkmenistan[48]
Uzbekistan –Shavkat Mirziyoyev,President of Uzbekistan[48]Heads of international organizations
International Olympic Committee – Thomas Bach,President of the International Olympic Committee[49]
United Nations – António Guterres,Secretary-General of the United Nations[50]United Nations – Abdulla Shahid,President of the United Nations General Assembly[citation needed]
World Health Organization –Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,Director-General of the World Health Organization[51]World Intellectual Property Organization –Daren Tang, Secretary-General of theWorld Intellectual Property Organization[51]
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation –Zhang Ming, Secretary-General ofShanghai Cooperation Organisation[51]
Brazil andNew Development Bank –Marcos Prado Troyjo, president ofNew Development Bank[51]Royalty
Cambodia –Norodom Sihamoni,King of Cambodia[36]
Saudi Arabia –Mohammed bin Salman,Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,[51] PrinceAbdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, Minister of Sports, PrincessReema bint Bandar Al Saud (also Saudi Ambassador to the USA), Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, Vice President of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and Adwa Al-Oraifi, member of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee[52]
United Arab Emirates –Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi[51]
Luxembourg –Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg[53]
Monaco –Albert II, Prince of Monaco[54]
Qatar –Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani,Emir of Qatar[55]
Thailand –Sirindhorn, Princess Royal of Thailand (representing theKing of Thailand)[56]Others
Azerbaijan –Ali Ahmadov, Deputy Prime Minister of theRepublic of Azerbaijan[57]
Japan –Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympics Organizing Committee;[58]Yasuhiro Yamashita, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee[59] and Kazuyuki Mori, chief of the Japanese Paralympic Committee[60]
Chinese Taipei –Hung Hsiu-chu, Former chairperson of theKuomintang and formerVice President of the Legislative Yuan[61]
France –Roxana Mărăcineanu,Minister Delegate in charge of Sports[62]
South Korea –Hwang Hee,Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism,[63] andPark Byeong-seug,Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea[64]
Romania –Carol-Eduard Novak,Minister of Youth and Sport[65]In the United States,NBC's live broadcast of the ceremony was the lowest watched opening ceremony in U.S. history. 16 million people watched the event while a further 190 million minutes were streamed on Peacock, NBC's over-the-top video streaming service. Some reasons for the low audience figures included "strained relations between the United States and China due to economic and human rights issues, another Olympics held during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lack of buzz coming into the Games."[66][67]
On 26 January 2022, a spokesperson of China'sTaiwan Affairs Office "incorrectly" called theChinese Taipei (Taiwan) team "Taipei, China". Later that day, Taiwan announced that their Olympic team would not attend the opening and closing ceremonies in Beijing, formally due to anti-COVID-19 rules and delayed flights.[68][69] The same day, another Taiwan official stated that Taiwan would be diplomatically boycotting the ceremonies as well.[70] On 28 January 2022, a Taiwan official also stated concern that the Chinese Taipei (中华台北) and Hong Kong, China (中国香港) delegations would be adjacent to each other in the Parade of Nations due to theChinese collation order, "downgrading" Taiwan's status.[71]
Between 29 January and 31 January 2022, the International Olympic Committee repeatedly contacted theChinese Taipei Olympic Committee, stating that it was obligated to attend the ceremonies to "comply with the Olympic Charter".[72] (The IOC had already suspendedNorth Korea for not sending a team to theTokyo Summer Games in violation of the Olympic Charter.) On 1 February 2022, Taiwanese officials relented on their boycott.[73] According to attendees of the rehearsal of the opening ceremony, Japan and Chinese Taipei marched adjacently, followed by "a few" countries, followed by Hong Kong, preventing the Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong delegations from being adjacent.[74] However, during the actual opening ceremony, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong marched adjacently in that order.[75]
On China's state media, the broadcast of the opening ceremony cut away to a clip of Xi Jinping when the Chinese Taipei delegation paraded, while the broadcast's commentator announced the delegation's name as "Taipei, China".[76][77]
Some South Korean people were angered and accused China of appropriating Korean culture as their own, as one of the performers representing theethnic Koreans in China wore a traditionalchoson-ot when delivering the national flag of China.[78][79] Democratic Party presidential nomineeLee Jae-myung, People Power Party presidential nomineeYoon Suk-yeol, People's Party presidential candidateAhn Cheol-soo joined the fray and expressed their discontent.[80] However some South Koreans felt their politicians' reactions were misguided, and say that it was clear to them, that the woman was representing the estimated 2 million ethnic Koreans who live in China.[81] The Chinese Embassy in South Korea responded that China respected the historical and cultural traditions of South Korea, and hanbok belongs to ethnic Koreans everywhere, including in China.[82]
Great Big Story
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Opening ceremonies |
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