Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 begins

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The Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony at the Beijing National Stadium is underway, reports CNN.

It will last 100 minutes, end with fireworks and will feature an estimated 3,000 performers. Teenagers account for 95% of the performers at the ceremony, according to state media.

Director Zhang Yimou returns 14 years after directing the 2008 Opening Ceremony. He said this time around, the show won’t be as grand or as long — 2008 included 15,000 participants.

A host of sports including ice hockey, luge and multiple ski events have already started ahead of what is a spectacular curtain raiser.

Curling is another of the sports to have already began its preliminary rounds and the sport has become a fan favorite every time the Games come around.

Athletes of the participating countries have begun parading into the Olympics Opening Ceremony, starting with Greece.

The Chinese writing system has characters composed of strokes. The countries are ordered by the number of strokes that are counted in the first character of the Chinese name, from lowest to highest.

President Xi Jinping sparked the loudest cheer of the night so far as he waved to the crowd as the Opening Ceremony began.

He also waved to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach before taking his seat.

Flag bearers Apostolos Angelis and Maria Ntanou of Team Greece carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium on February 04 in Beijing, China (David Ramos/Getty Images)

He stood up once again to sing the national anthem as the Chinese flag was raised within the National Stadium.

Outside the arena, volunteers gather to watch what is so far a spectacular curtain raiser for this year’s Winter Olympics.

Some 150,000 spectators will be invited to attend the 2022 Winter Games, according to the Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee, Yang Shu’an.