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Filmmaker Zhang Yimou returns for Olympics opening ceremony

8 January 2022
18804
2022-01-08 14:34

Renowned Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou is promising a simpler opening ceremony for 2022 Beijing Winter Games .Zhang, who directed an awe-inspiring opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008.

He told the official Xinhua News Agency that his team has come up with a bold idea for the lighting of the flame and the design of the cauldron that is in line with environmental protection and low-carbon emissions. The Feb. 4 ceremony will have 3,000 performers, a sharp drop from 15,000 in 2008, and last less than 100 minutes because of the cold weather and the COVID-19 pandemic.

It will be held at the "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, the same wavy, latticed structure used for the 2008 Games. Zhang told Xinhua that the theme of the ceremony will be different, saying that times have changed and the world needs a new vision in the wake of the pandemic.

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