The Winter Olympics in Beijing becomes a successful event even before the formal conclusion, an evidence of the great Chinese leadership’s unwavering commitment.
When President Xi Jinping promised to stage safe and successful Winter Olympics, and he meant it.
The whole world saw the Chinese arrangements, live and on their television sets. Also known as the Bird’s Nest stadium, the venue of Olympics featured a show of ice-cool blue lasers as President Xi Jinping inaugurated the international sports event on February 4.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan joined the world leaders at the Beijing National Stadium as the spectacular Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 kicked off.
The propaganda by the western countries against China died down in a spectacular way, as the Winter Olympics were kicked off amid a galaxy of world leaders, ministers, diplomats and officials.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Beijing on February 3 and attended the colourful event along with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Planning Minister Asad Umar.
The impressively organised ceremony began shortly after President Xi Jinping and International Olympic Committee Chairperson Thomas Bach entered National Stadium. Around 3,000 athletes from 91 countries and regions are now competing across 109 medal events. The athletes paraded at the opening ceremony including Muhammad Karim from Gilgit-Baltistan who would represent Pakistan in Alpine Skiing.
A four-member contingent is representing the country at the Winter Olympics. Besides Karim, it includes Syed Noman Ali as the chef de mission, Nadeem Ajmal Khan as the team leader and Mirza Mohammad Qamar as the Covid-19 liaison and the coach.
The athletes made their way into the stadium through a spectacular entrance which has been described as “Gate of China” and “Window of China.”
The ‘Gate of China’ symbolises that China opens its doors to welcome the world to the Olympic Winter Games.
Held on the first day of Spring by the Chinese calendar, the ceremony saw an opening act by dancers waving glowing green stalks to convey the vitality of the season, followed by an explosion of white and green fireworks that spelt the word “Spring”.
In the buildup to the ceremony, China had encouraged athletes to sign a “truce mural” with other nations. The government also rolled out a massive winter sports initiative prior to the Games, saying it had successfully engaged more than 300 million Chinese citizens in winter sports participation, especially focusing on kids and teens.
Throughout the parade of nations, happy volunteers jumped, danced, and waved alongside the competing Olympic athletes.
A bucolic snowflake aesthetic dominated the presentation, apparently emphasising not only the uniqueness of every snowflake but also the calm uniformity of the collective snowfall awaiting spring.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping looked on, in the final moments, the Olympic torch was passed to 21-year-old cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang, who is a member of China’s Uyghur ethnic minority – negating the propaganda about human rights.
While China’s Olympic delegation obviously got the biggest cheer of the night from the hometown crowd, the Beijing Olympics Committee stressed a warm welcome to all the participating nations, from the Mexican athletes wearing Day of the Dead jackets to the solo American Samoa delegate who arrived shirtless, fully Vaselined, and ready to perform.
