[Photo] Opening Ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China

NDO - The opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games was held solemnly, demonstrating the spirit of sports solidarity as well as the unique culture of northeastern China.

On the evening of February 7, the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games took place in Harbin city, Heilongjiang province, China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended and declared the opening of the 9th Asian Winter Games.

Also attending the Opening Ceremony were leaders of many countries such as Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah; Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov; Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra; Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea Woo Won-sik, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, First Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia Timothy Tsun-Ting Fok...

With the theme “Sharing the Snow Dream, Asia Unites”, the 9th Asian Winter Games will take place over 8 days, with 11 events and 64 competitions, of which the ice competition will take place at the Harbin Competition Area; the snow competition will be held at the Yabuli Competition Area.

The opening ceremony lasted about 80 minutes with rituals such as the flag-raising ceremony, the sports delegations entering the stage, the leaders giving speeches and declaring the opening, performing arts, lighting the torch... The performances at the opening ceremony demonstrated the spirit of winter ice and snow sports, while also introducing unique cultural features in northeastern China, in which the highlight was the opening performance with the theme "Ice Lantern Dream" about a girl's journey of dreaming and pursuing her dream.

[Photo] Opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China photo 2

“Ice Dream” tells the story of a little girl's journey of dreaming and pursuing her dream.

[Photo] Opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China photo 3

The Vietnamese sports delegation enters the stage. (Photo cut from CCTV)

[Photo] Opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China photo 4

Mongolian sports delegation enters the podium.

[Photo] Opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China photo 5

Hong Kong (China) sports delegation enters the podium.

[Photo] Opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China photo 6

Flags of sports delegations at the podium.

The 9th Asian Winter Games is a record-breaking event in terms of the number of athletes, with a total of more than 1,200 athletes from 34 countries and territories participating. Of which, the host Chinese sports delegation has 170 athletes competing in all events. The Vietnamese sports delegation has one athlete participating in the men's individual short-track speed skating event in 3 events: 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m.

The 9th Asian Winter Games will close on February 14.