HARBIN, Feb 8 (NNN-XINHUA) – Chinese President, Xi Jinping, opened the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin last 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 Centre 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 the opening ceremony’s sub-venue, Harbin Ice and Snow World, the world’s largest ice and snow theme park.
Running from Feb 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.
A record 34 countries and regions are competing in Harbin 2025, surpassing the previous high, set at the 8th Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan in 2017. Over 1,200 athletes are participating in ice events in Harbin and snow events in Yabuli, marking an increase from the previous record of 1,147 at the Sapporo Games.– NNN-XINHUA