A record-high 12,000 participants from 45 countries participated.
A heated battle for 481 gold until October 8th
Combining Chinese cultural assets with smart technology
Tokyo Olympic swimming men’s 200m individual medley gold medalist Wang Sun and a digital ignitor are lighting the torch together at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium in China on the afternoon of the 23rd. Hangzhou/Yonhap News
‘Green’, ‘smart’, ‘digital’ and even ‘economical’… The 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, the first international comprehensive competition held in the COVID-19 pandemic era, opened spectacularly at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, China, at 9 pm on the 23rd (Korean time). The Hangzhou Asian Games organizing committee proposed the words “green, smart, economic, and ethical,” and under this banner, 12,000 athletes from 45 countries, the largest ever, will compete for 16 days until October 8. The opening ceremony was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Kuwaiti Crown Prince Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Sananagusmao Dong. Major foreign envoys, including the Prime Minister of Timor, also attended.
The Korean team is entering the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the night of the 23rd. Hangzhou/Reporter Yun Woon-sik yws@hani.co.kr
South Korea was the 16th, and North Korea was the 7th. Among the 45 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) belonging to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Afghanistan (AFG), which has the first English alphabet abbreviation, entered the ceremony hall first. North Korea marched for the seventh time with women’s boxing’s Bang Cheol-mi and shooting’s Park Myeong-won as co-flagbearers, receiving cheers from the Chinese audience. North Korea, which had been disciplined for unilaterally not participating in the Tokyo Olympics, returned to the international sports stage five years after the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang. There are a total of 185 North Korean players.
North Korean athletes are entering the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the night of the 23rd. Hangzhou/Reporter Yun Woon-sik yws@hani.co.kr
The Korean team was led by Koo Bon-gil (fencing) and Kim Seo-young (swimming), and 100 athletes, including team leader Choi Yoon, came in as the 16th team. Korea, which dispatched a team of 1,140 athletes including executives, is aiming for more than 50 gold medals (3rd place overall). Host country China entered last. Afterwards, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s opening declaration and opening ceremony performance were held, and finally, world number one men’s table tennis fan Zhendong and 2020 Tokyo Olympics swimming gold medalist Wang Shun participated as torch runners to light the torch. Combination of Chinese cultural capabilities and digital At the opening ceremony performance, the traditions and present of Hangzhou, which is rich in economic and cultural assets, were newly presented through digital technology. As the organizing committee promised to showcase technologies of the virtual reality and artificial intelligence (AI) era, the LED field changed from moment to moment depending on the theme. In the open performance before entering Sudan, the characteristics of the agricultural culture of this region, where the oldest rice fossils were discovered, were connected with lanterns that revealed the joy of the autumn harvest. This day was also the autumn equinox. In the first part of the full-scale performance, ‘Endless Elegance’, the image of water became a poem or a painting, and the three-dimensional objects in the rain and fog presented the meaning of infinitely expanding limits through the ‘beauty of blank space’ of the East. Part 2, ‘Waves of the Qiantang River’, depicts an advancing Asia through two dancers harmonizing and overcoming digital images of the rough and diverse waves that swirl around Hangzhou. In the third part, ‘Together to the Future’, a large-scale chorus expressed the competition’s slogan ‘Heart to Heart @ Future’ and ‘Asia’s future where hearts and minds melt together’.
On the night of the 23rd, the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games is being held in a grand manner at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium in China. Hangzhou/Reporter Yun Woon-sik yws@hani.co.kr
‘Green’ mega sports event The fireworks that exploded after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the opening of the competition were not actual fireworks. The actual fireworks could not be seen above or outside the stadium, whose exterior walls were surrounded by lotus petals. There was no gunpowder smoke or smell. The only thing that decorated the stadium on a small scale was the electronic sound and the sparkle of images on the spectator wall. The competition organizing committee, which aims to be eco-friendly, lit the torch using a combination of digital flames and real flames. The torch relay was held in a city with Neolithic ruins in the region in June, but it attracted more than 100 million people to participate in the online torch relay, and the giant ‘digital torch runner’ created by the organizing committee entered the main stadium that day, ran an LED display board, and then was a human being. Together with the torch bearer, Wang Sun, the flame was raised to the cauldron.
China’s five-star red flag is being carried at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games held on the night of the 23rd. Hangzhou/Reporter Yun Woon-sik yws@hani.co.kr
Asian Values China’s Target? The opening ceremony is not simply a venue to announce the start of the competition. It is an opportunity to spread the concept pursued by the country or the organizing committee through cultural events. On this day, the organizing committee used elements such as boats and plows of indigenous people who settled 5,000 years ago to create a digital background that harmonizes waterways and agriculture. The interior was cylindrical and the exterior was carved into squares, and efforts were made to combine the jade sculpture relics representing heaven and earth with the image of the digital book, and to reveal Chinese proverbs such as ‘Sangseon Yaksu’ (the highest good is like water). This is possible thanks to our rich cultural heritage and the capabilities of the digital age. China’s confidence seemed to be revealed in a message that conveyed hope to the Chinese people through large-scale choir singing and lighting of lanterns, and emphasized friendship and mutual benefit with countries in the Asian region. Hangzhou/Senior Reporter Kim Chang-geum kimck@hani.co.kr
2023-09-23 14:51:35
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