The 9th Asian Winter Games were officially opened on Friday evening with a festive ceremony highlighting the snow and ice culture of the host city Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Games open in front of 8,000 spectators at the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center.
Also attending were International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, and South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik.
The national flag of China was escorted into the venue and raised at the ceremony to the playing of China's national anthem.
Sports delegations from the 34 participating countries and regions entered the arena in alphabetical order based on their national or regional Olympic Committee names.
As the host nation, the 257-member Chinese delegation, including 170 athletes, was the last to enter, with star speed skater Ning Zhongyan and young freeskier Liu Mengting serving as the nation's flagbearers.
The opening ceremony reached its climax when 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 the opening ceremony's sub-venue, Harbin Ice and Snow World, the world's largest ice and snow theme park.
The creative program in the colorful opening ceremony offered a glimpse of Harbin's unique winter charm, including its landmarks, local cultural elements and its winter sports tradition. It also depicted an inspiring story of a little girl's winter sports journey, featuring predominantly young college performers, highlighting the growing passion for ice and snow sports in China, while also reflecting the wider winter sports movement across Asia.
Running from Feb 7 to 14 and held under the theme "Dream of Winter, Love among Asia", this year's edition of the Games is set to be the largest ever in terms of overall participation, with over 1,200 competitors from 34 countries and regions competing in 64 events across 11 winter sports disciplines.
This is the third time the regional games are being held in China, and it marks Harbin's second time as host after the city previously staged the event back in 1996. It is also the first major international ice and snow event held in China since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
9th Asian Winter Games open in China's "ice city" of Harbin
9th Asian Winter Games open in China's "ice city" of Harbin
9th Asian Winter Games open in China's "ice city" of Harbin
