BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin on Friday night during a festive ceremony highlighting the city’s ice and snow culture. The opening of the Games in Northeast China’s Harbin, Heilongjiang Province marked the holding of another major international event in China, after the 2022 Beijing Olympics and 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. In addition to the development of ice and snow sports, some analysts believed that through the grand winter event, China once again sent a message of unity and friendship to the world.
At the beginning of the opening ceremony, participating delegations entered the stage in alphabetical order at the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center.
The audience gave enthusiastic applause to the delegations of Hong Kong, Macao and Chinese Taipei as they entered the stage escorted by mascots Binbin and Nini during the athletes’ parade.
The atmosphere reached a climax when host China entered the ceremony last, with star speed skater Ning Zhongyan and young free skier Liu Mengting as the delegation’s flag-bearers, according to Xinhua.
A series of spectacular performances at the ceremony showcased both advanced technology and local artistic excellence with ice and snow themes.
Joined by children holding ice lanterns, China’s first Winter Olympic champion and short track speed skater Yang Yang, China’s first male Winter Olympic gold medalist and freestyle skier Han Xiaopeng, Olympic race walk champion Wang Zhen, and Sochi Winter Olympic speed skating champion Zhang Hong lit the cauldron in a shape of a blooming lilac flower at the Harbin Ice-Snow World, the world’s largest ice-and-snow theme park.
The Harbin Asian Winter Games, which serves as a valuable training opportunity for Asian countries and regions ahead of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, will run from February 7 to 14. The first gold will be decided on Saturday.
Before attending the opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games, President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan on Friday hosted a welcome banquet for international dignitaries attending the opening ceremony in Harbin, including Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister of Thailand Paetongtarn Shinawatra, National Assembly Speaker of the Republic of Korea Woo Won-shik, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, and Olympic Council of Asia Vice President Timothy Fok Tsun-ting.
The theme of the Games – “Dream of Winter, Love among Asia” – embodies Asian people’s shared aspirations and desire for peace, development and friendship, Xi addressed the banquet.
He called on Asia to uphold the common dream of peace and harmony, jointly respond to all sorts of security challenges, and contribute to building an equal and orderly multipolar world. He also stressed the shared pursuit of prosperity and development, calling on Asian people to work together to promote progress and development, and provide sustained momentum for a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
