HARBIN, Feb 7: Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the 9th Asian Winter Games here on Friday night during a festive ceremony highlighting the city’s ice and snow culture.
Over 8,000 spectators at the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center burst into cheers as Xi officially declared the Games open in the presence of visiting dignitaries including International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.
The opening ceremony reached its climax as four torchbearers – two-time 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 Olympics speed skating champion Zhang Hong – joined by children holding ice lanterns, lit the lilac-shaped cauldron at opening ceremony’s sub-venue, Harbin Ice and Snow World, the world’s largest ice and snow theme park.
Running from February 7 to 14, the Harbin Games, with the slogan “Dream of Winter, Love among Asia” represents another major international winter sports event hosted by China following the
Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
It also marks the country’s third time hosting the Asian Winter Games, following Harbin 1996 and Changchun 2007.
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