中文
By Rabi Sankar Bosu
Under the updated motto of "Together for a Shared Future," the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games under the supervision of the world-renowned film-makers and director Zhang Yimou touched the hearts of people all around the world through an array of traditional cultural elements of China, along with international elements on February 4 at the National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest in Beijing, capital of China.
The opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympics enabled overseas viewers who couldn't be on ground zero, but are interested in China to learn more about the cultural heritage and the vibrancy of sports of that country trying to catch the same pulse of the opening pageantry on TV at home. Indeed, the highly choreographed ceremony is the reception ceremony to warmly welcome about 2,900 athletes from around 90 countries and regions competing for 109 gold medals across seven sports of the quadrennial winter sports spectacle from February 4 to 20 with the world audience.
After hosting the successful 29th Olympic Summer Games in 2008 which demonstrated China's emerging economic prowess and international standing, on the night of February 4, with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron which is designed in the shape of a snowflake, by Chinese skiers Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen together, the nation's capital, Beijing has become the first "Dual Olympic City" in the world, creating a legacy for both 1.4 billion Chinese people and the world.
Although the Beijing 2022 opening ceremony was totally "different" in terms of audience response from that of the impressive opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics of 15,000 performers on August 8, 2008, the two-hour and 20 minute-long innovating green and hi-tech epic extravaganza has also created some scintillating moments with the participation of 3,000 performers braving cooler temperatures of the minus six degrees Celsius by displaying a dazzling show of fireworks that will go down in the history of world ice and snow sports while giving a living example of a safe games twice.
Notably, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening ceremony coincided with Lichun (which marks the beginning of spring in the Chinese Lunar Year), elements of this also featured in the mega event.
Echoing the words of Chinese President Xi Jinping, it can be said that "history will engrave this stroke" through the ice and the snowflakes to build "a community with a shared future for mankind" as he has called for on numerous occasions when the world is being perplexed by anti-globalization sentiments.
Undoubtedly, the selection of 20 years old cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang, an ethnic Uygur from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is a powerful rebuff to the "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games instigated by the U.S. and its allies under the so-called unfounded accusations of "forced labor" and "violation of human rights" in Xinjiang region.
Harping on the U.S. hostility toward China, the New York Times made an unhinged attack on the choice of Dinigeer Yilamujiang with a highly critical article titled, "In a provocative choice, China picks an athlete with a Uygur name to help light the cauldron" on February 4. But this is beyond the U.S. media outlets like The New York Times' comprehension of China's sporting supremacy than the U.S. As such, igniting the flame of the four-yearly sporting festival by both Chinese Olympians Yilamujiang and Jiawen truly indicates that China can pull all its ethnicities together to prove China is such a beautiful nation where all 56 ethnic groups live in harmony, just like pomegranate seeds stick together. Can the U.S. do the same?
More importantly, the presence of more than 30 state leaders and heads of international organizations glorified the mega ceremony of the winter sporting jamboree and underscored their shared spirit of togetherness and solidarity with China in the sports landscape. In other words, it can be said that the gathering of athletes and the presence of distinguished political leaders and guests from around the world Games is a "no-confidence vote" against the U.S.-led "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Olympics which only exposes their ugly intention.
The opening ceremony saw different worlds through the parade of the athletes of different outfits carrying their flag through the "Gate of China." As the star attraction of the opening ceremony of the global gathering, Team China with skeleton athlete Zhao Dan and speed skater Gao Tingyu as the flag bearers marching together into the stadium got the loudest cheers from the half-filled crowd of the 80,000 National Stadium due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Thus the journey of the Chinese Dream of "One World, One Dream" of 2008 to "Together for a Shared Future" of 2022 translated into reality when President Xi announced the opening of the Beijing Winter Games to the people of the world. Quite rightly, IOC President Bach pointed out China's arrival as a "winter sport country" as a "new era for global winter sport" as more than300 million Chinese people have participated in ice and snow sports ahead of schedule, creating a new model for the sustainable development of the Olympic Games that encourages other countries.
This underlines that winter sports have a long history and a broad mass base in China. Notably, According to a press note by the Chinese Embassy in India on January 11, 2022, during the Qing Dynasty in the 18th century, ice-playing was officially designated as "annual national custom." As such the convening of the Winter Olympic Games comes as no surprise.
Defying the chill and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics reunites the world with the Olympic spirit of brotherhood and fraternity while providing all participating athletes opportunity to accomplish their dreams. China has done everything to make a "streamlined, safe and splendid Olympic event. The political posturing by the U.S. and some of its allies "will do no harm to a splendid Olympic Games" by mixing political situations with sports.
At the welcoming banquet of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 5 at the Great Hall of the People, President Xi unveiled a new horizon, opened up a new world of peace and prosperity, harmony and happiness by emphasizing for a beautiful future for the world through sports: "We shall promote the spirit of the Olympic Movement and meet the common challenges facing the international community through solidarity. The only way for all countries to address the various challenges effectively is to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and work together for a shared future."
The author is an Indian contributor to Chinese media outlets. He writes about Chinese politics, social and cultural issues, and China-India relations with a special interest in the Belt and Road Initiative.
