The opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games was held on the evening of February 7th in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. Sha Xiaolan, chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, stated that the effect of the entire performance and the torch-lighting ceremony "exceeded expectations". 

The torch tower for the Games was designed by the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University, inspired by Harbin's city flower, the lilac. The design incorporates ice and snow culture, using snowflakes to symbolize resilience, elegance, and purity, which blend with the lilac's meaning of peace, highlighting Harbin's unique characteristics. Sha explained, "A little girl portraying a dream chaser of winter sports completed the first performance, and we rapidly transported her from the main venue to the branch venue at the Harbin Ice-Snow World, where she lit the torch tower with four other torchbearers. "  

Sha expressed excitement about the performance effect, "We had three rehearsals with audiences before, and tonight's official performance was the best! Both the actors' conditions and the synchronization of movements exceeded our expectations!"

It took less than a year to prepare for this opening ceremony, only half of that for the Olympics and Asian Games. The ceremony's creative team was stationed in Harbin for three consecutive months. Due to restrictions on using suspension and lifting equipment in the venue, the team used dynamic screens to present glasses-free 3D effects. Sha mentioned, "We made great efforts in this part, and the entire 3D animation team, along with other personnel, contributed greatly."

Seventy two students from the Tagou Martial Arts School participated in performances of "Thrill of the Game" and "Joy of Winter Sports", as well as the theme song "Light Up Asia". The performance "Thrill of the Game" featured martial arts interpreting over 50 classic ice and snow sports movements, such as speed skating, alpine skiing, and freestyle skiing, bringing extra brilliance to the opening ceremony.

Sui Wenjing, 2022 Winter Olympics champion, also participated in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 9th Asian Winter Games as a program director. She shared that after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she entered the Beijing Dance Academy to study scriptwriting and directing, with hopes to create more works using figure skating as a medium. "Whether in large-scale events or other occasions, I hope to use this form of expression to bring figure skating to a broader audience and spread more Chinese culture and voices," she added.

Source: Lingnan on the Cloud

亚冬会开幕式创意满满，演出效果“超出预期”

第九届亚洲冬季运动会开幕式7日晚在黑龙江省哈尔滨市举行。总导演沙晓岚表示，整场表演和点火仪式“超出预期”。

本届亚冬会火炬塔由清华美院设计，灵感源于哈尔滨市花丁香花。设计结合冰雪文化，以雪花象征坚韧、优雅、纯洁，与丁香花的和平寓意相融合，展现哈尔滨特色。沙晓岚介绍：“怀揣梦想的小女孩在完成第一个节目后，我们以最快速度转运，让她从主会场到达冰雪大世界分会场，与4位火炬手共同点燃火炬塔。” 

谈及演出效果，沙晓岚激动地表示：“我们进行了三次有观众的彩排，今天是最好的一次！从演员状态到动作整齐度，都超出预期！”

此次开幕式筹备时间不到一年，仅为奥运会、亚运会筹备时间的一半。主创团队连续三个月驻扎哈尔滨。由于场馆无法使用悬吊和升降设备，团队改用灵动屏幕呈现裸眼3D特效。沙晓岚表示：“我们在这方面付出了巨大努力，整个三维动画团队及其他人员都有贡献。”  

塔沟武校72名学员参演了《驰骋天地间》《缤纷嘉年华》和主题曲《点亮亚洲》。其中，《驰骋天地间》以武术演绎速度滑冰、高山滑雪、自由式滑雪等50多种冰雪运动的经典动作，为开幕式增添亮点。 

冬奥会冠军隋文静此次以节目导演身份参与开闭幕式工作。她表示，2022年北京冬奥会后进入北京舞蹈学院学习编导，希望未来以花样滑冰为载体，创作更多作品。“无论是在大型活动还是其他场合，我都希望通过这种表达，让花样滑冰走向更大的世界，传播更多中国文化和中国声音。” 

文 | 记者 苏荇（发自哈尔滨）
图 | 记者 蔡嘉鸿（发自哈尔滨）
译｜黄宇洁
英文审校｜林佳岱