China's capabilities shine at the Winter Olympic Games

The 2022 Winter Olympics, the world's most spectacular sporting event, is just a few hours away. World sports fans who witnessed the uniqueness of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics have high hopes for how China will host the Winter Olympic Games this year. The Olympic organizers are working day and night to fulfill the expectations of sports fans around the world.

China has not recently begun organizing the 2022 Winter Olympics. Since China won the Olympic bid in 2015, it has been planning, providing the necessary environmental, technical and scientific work. But organizing it during the Covid-19 pandemic is a major challenge. Under the motto "Together for a shared future", the Games will bring together different nations under one Olympic flag and promote peace, unity, brotherhood and mutual understanding.

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has attracted a lot of attention from sports fans around the world. Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who directed the spectacular launch of the 2008 Summer Olympics, has also been called upon to direct this year's Winter Olympics opening ceremony. He says this time there will be a "different and unique" opening ceremony. "It's different now. China's status in the world, the image of the Chinese, and the rise of our national status, everything is totally different now," he said.

The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will feature events across 15 disciplines across seven sports. About 2,900 athletes from around 90 National Olympic Committees are expected to take part in this year's Olympic Games.

The Chinese capital Beijing is the official Olympic host city this year. Accordingly, Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The event will also be held in Yanqing, a mountainous suburb of Beijing, and the popular ski resort of Zhanjiakou in Hebei Province. The three areas are connected by a high-speed railway line specially constructed for the Games. All of the high-tech Olympic stadiums will be powered by green energy. Attempts have been made to fully embody the green concept proposed by China.

It is truly challenging for China to organize such a massive sporting event at a time when countries around the world are battling the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Beijing's anti-epidemic policy at the Olympics, China will manage athletes and other participants under a "closed-loop" system. Special transport facilities are used for the participants of the Olympics.

The Olympic Games are an important platform for promoting unity, friendship and cooperation among nations. This year's Games coincide with the Tiger Year of the Chinese Zodiac. I believe China's capabilities will shine at the Olympics, just as the tiger symbolizes strength, resilience and vigor.

The author is a lecturer at the Foreign Languages School of Yunnan University, a former consultant for China Media Group, and a senior Sri Lankan journalist.

The opinions expressed in this article reflect those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of People's Daily Online.