The 9th Asian Winter Games were officially opened on Friday evening

The 9th Asian Winter Games were officially opened on Friday evening with a festive ceremony highlighting the snow and ice culture of the host city Harbin, capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.

Chinese President Xi Jinping declared the Games open in front of 8,000 spectators at the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center. Running from Feb 7 to 14 and held under the theme “Dream of Winter, Love among Asia”, this year’s edition of the Games is set to be the largest ever in terms of overall participation, with over 1,200 competitors from 34 countries and regions competing in 64 events across 11 winter sports disciplines.

This is the third time the regional games are being held in China, and it marks Harbin’s second time as host after the city previously staged the event back in 1996. It is also the first major international ice and snow event held in China since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.