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The Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony at the Beijing National Stadium is underway, reports CNN.
It will last 100 minutes, end with fireworks and will feature an estimated 3,000 performers. Teenagers account for 95% of the performers at the ceremony, according to state media.
Director Zhang Yimou returns 14 years after directing the 2008 Opening Ceremony. He said this time around, the show won’t be as grand or as long — 2008 included 15,000 participants.
A host of sports including ice hockey, luge and multiple ski events have already started ahead of what is a spectacular curtain raiser.
Curling is another of the sports to have already began its preliminary rounds and the sport has become a fan favorite every time the Games come around.
Athletes of the participating countries have begun parading into the Olympics Opening Ceremony, starting with Greece.
The Chinese writing system has characters composed of strokes. The countries are ordered by the number of strokes that are counted in the first character of the Chinese name, from lowest to highest.
President Xi Jinping sparked the loudest cheer of the night so far as he waved to the crowd as the Opening Ceremony began.
He also waved to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach before taking his seat.
Flag bearers Apostolos Angelis and Maria Ntanou of Team Greece carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Flag bearers Apostolos Angelis and Maria Ntanou of Team Greece carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China (David Ramos/Getty Images)
He stood up once again to sing the national anthem as the Chinese flag was raised within the National Stadium.
Outside the arena, volunteers gather to watch what is so far a spectacular curtain raiser for this year’s Winter Olympics.
Some 150,000 spectators will be invited to attend the 2022 Winter Games, according to the Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee, Yang Shu’an.
Yang said Olympic venues will be split evenly between spectators from inside the “closed loop” system, which separates Games-related personnel from the public, and those living outside of it.
Beijing has enforced a strict “closed loop” system to combat the spread of Covid-19 among Olympics-related personnel. Since the system officially began on Jan. 23, a total of 308 Olympic-related Covid-19 cases have now been identified, 111 of which involve athletes or team officials.
The 150,000 spectators from outside the “closed loop” will include international people residing in mainland China, diplomatic personnel, marketing partners, winter sports enthusiasts, residents and local students, he explained.
Spectators inside the “closed loop” will consist of members of the Olympic family, National Olympic Committees delegations, athletes, media representatives and broadcasters, Yang added.
On January 17, the IOC announced tickets for the Games would not go on sale for international visitors or the general public, citing Covid-19 concerns. Instead, it decided groups of spectators would need to be invited to fill the stands.
