Short Olympics opening but still chic

The duration of the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will be of less than 100 minutes and there will be around 3,000 participants, the organizing committee of the Games announced at a recent online news conference.

The opening ceremony will showcase China's pursuit of world peace, the new Olympic motto of "Faster, Higher, Stronger－Together", and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics' theme of "Together for a shared future". It will be another opportunity for China to share its hopes for a better future with the world.

The shortened duration of the ceremony has much to do with the principle of controlling the cost of hosting this grand gathering of human kind. By shortening the duration and limiting the total number of participants, the committee is trying to keep the cost under control.

Actually, cost control will be in the minds of the organizers all through the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. According to the logistics department, they insisted on the principle of renting instead of purchasing, with rented materials accounting for around 70 percent of all the things involved.

But that does not mean the opening ceremony is devoid of any talking point. There are at least three factors that set the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics apart from earlier ones.

There's technological innovation to begin with. Zhang Yimou, the chief director of the opening ceremony, has already elaborated on how his team will use new technology such as artificial intelligence, machine vision, 5G and cloud transmissions to give the world a romantic and beautiful, warm opening ceremony.

The ceremony will also feature low-carbon environmental protection. In fact "green" and "energy-saving" are two keywords defining the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. It is the first Winter Olympics with carbon neutrality.

Last but not least, the simple style of the opening ceremony will help to better protect Beijing against the COVID-19 pandemic, as it could minimize the number of people assembling in the cold weather.