The opening ceremony of the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inter ...

took place on 4 March 2022 at the Beijing National Stadium (also known as "Bird's Nest") in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. The Games were opened by

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...

and President of China.

Preparations

Opening ceremony Beijing 2022 1 of 11 edit

The site of the opening ceremony, the Beijing National Stadium, was redeveloped in preparation for the ceremonies of both the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

Announcers (masters of ceremony)

* English: Zhao Ying * Mandarin Chinese:

Gang Qiang Gang Qiang (, born 7 April 1976 in Taiyuan, Shanxi) is an anchor for China Central Television. Biography From 1993 to 1996, Gang studied at Taiyuan Experimental High School (formerly Railway No. 1 Middle School). From 1996 to 2000, he studied ...

Proceedings

The ceremony, directed by

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

, had the theme "Blossoming of Life" and began at 20:00 CST (

UTC+8 UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00. With an estimated population of 1.708 billion living within the time zone, roughly 24% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a ...

) in the Beijing National Stadium. The games were opened by

and President of China, and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons were in attendance. As well as representing the IPC, Parsons represented the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

in the absence of president

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...

who tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

The curling rink: Countdown performance

Entry of the National flag

Parade of Nations

Reactions to Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from participating after the countries' invasion of Ukraine. During the ceremony, Parsons did not mention Russia by name, but he publicly declared his horror at the fighting in Ukraine and called on world authorities to promote peace.

Entry of Paralympic Flag

Flag bearers of the Paralympic Flag achieved the goal of "Combination of the Sound and the Disabled": * Chen Qi (): former wheelchair athlete and Caption of

China men's national wheelchair basketball team The China Men's National Wheelchair Basketball Team is the wheelchair basketball side that represents China in international competitions for men as part of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. Competitions Wheelchair Basketball ...

at the

2008 Beijing Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

. As the current head coach of

China women's national wheelchair basketball team The China Women's National Wheelchair Basketball Team is the wheelchair basketball side that represents China in international competitions for women as part of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. Competitions Wheelchair Basketba ...

, he led the team to win the historic silver medal of

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

at the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

. * Hao Guohua (): Judge of

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...

at the

and he took the Paralympic oath on behalf of all officials at the opening ceremony. *

Liu Yutong Liu Yutong (born 5 March 2004) is a Chinese para badminton player. She won gold in para-badminton at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the women's singles WH2 event. She also won silver in the women's doubles WH1''–''WH2 event with her partner ...

(): Gold medalist of

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

at the

. * Yao Juan (): Athletics athlete at six consecutive Paralympics ( 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio and

2020 Tokyo The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

), winning 5 golds in total. * Zhang Li (): Gold medalist of swimming at

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , su ...

and

, winning 6 golds and 1 silver in total. * Sun Gang (): Wheelchair fencer at the

and

, winning 4 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze in total. * Xue Juan (): Gold medalist of table tennis at

and

, winning 4 golds in total. *

Li Hao Li Hao may refer to: * Li Hao (murderer), murderer and rapist sentenced to death in 2014 * Li Gao or Li Hao (351–417), Northern Liang official who founded the Western Liang * Li Hao (Later Shu) (died 965), official of the Former Shu, Later Tang, ...

(): Wheelchair fencer at the

, winning 2 golds.

Oath taking

The representative of the oath taking were: * Athlete: ** Zhang Mengxue () ( Alpine skiing) ** Chen Jianxin () (

Wheelchair Curling Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of curling for athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling is governed by the World Curling Federation, and is one of the sports in the Winter Paralympic Games. Overview ...

): Vice Skip of China national wheelchair curling team (Skip: Wang Haitao). * Coach:
Yue Qingshuang () (

): Head coach of China national wheelchair curling team, bronze medalist of

2010 Vancouver Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, and the only non Northern American or European curling world champion (skip:

Wang Bingyu Wang Bingyu (; ; born October 7, 1984 in Harbin, Heilongjiang; usually referred to in the media as Bingyu "Betty" Wang) is a Chinese curler. In 2009, she became the first non Northern American or European skip to win a World Championship. ...

, 2009 World Championship). * Official: Zhang Liheng () (

Para Ice Hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilit ...

Arrival and lighting of the Paralympic flame

Torch bearers in the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

on the opening ceremony were: *

Liu Sitong Liu Sitong (born 25 July 1994) is a Chinese para-alpine skier. Career She represented China at the 2018 Winter Paralympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She competed in the women's slalom and women's giant slalom events. She represented ...

(): Alpine Skier at the 2018 Pyeongchang Paralympics and 2022 Beijing Paralympics. * Wen Xiaoyan (): Gold medalist of para-athletics at the

and

, winning 5 golds and 1 silver in total. * Ma Jia (): Gold medalist of para swimming at the

and record holder of women's 50 metre freestyle S11 & women's 200 metre individual medley SM11. * Zhang Xuemei (): Silver medalist of

at the

, member of

and flagbearer of Team China on 2020 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony. * Liu Cuiqing () & Xu Donglin () (Paralympic

guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Ex ...

and in-field guide): Gold medalists of

and

, winning 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal in total. *

Dong Chao Dong Chao (; born 13 December 1985) is a Chinese sport shooter. Career Chao won a gold medal in the shooting competition at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. He also won the gold at the 2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, bra ...

(): Medalist of shooting at four consecutive Paralympics ( 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio &

), winning 3 gold medals and 3 bronze medals in total. * Tang Xuemei (): Medalist of sitting volleyball in three consecutive Paralympics (Gold at 2012 London and Silver at 2016 Rio &

). Visually-impaired Paralympic champion

Li Duan Li Duan (; born 1978) is a blind Chinese Paralympic athletics, Paralympic athlete competing mainly in T11 (classification), F11 jumping events. He became blind after an explosion on 11 September 1996. Before that he was a p ...

(), who won gold medals at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

, which was also held in Beijing, lit the cauldron, becoming the third visually impaired person to light the Paralympics cauldron at the Opening Ceremonies.

Dignitaries in attendance

Host nation dignitaries

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, President of the People's Republic of China and

Chairman of the Central Military Commission Chairman of the Central Military Commission may refer to: *Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China) *Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea See also *Secretary of the Central Military Commission of the ...

** Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China ** Cai Qi,

Communist Party Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

, Executive President of the Organizing Committee for Beijing 2022

Dignitaries from International organizations

* International Paralympic Committee – President Andrew Parsons. *

– IPC President Andrew Parsons in place of IOC Vice President

Ng Ser Miang Ng Ser Miang, (; born 6 April 1949) is a Singaporean entrepreneur, diplomat, and retired sailor. He founded Trans-Island Bus Services (now known as SMRT Buses) in 1982 and is a board member of Singapore Press Holdings. Since 1990, he has been ...

who is unable to attend after testing positive for

. Ng was to attend in place of IOC President

Anthems

* National Anthem of People's Republic of China * Paralympic Hymn

Controversy

Parsons's speech about how he was "horrified at what is taking place in the world right now", which implied the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

, was not translated and muted by China Central Television (CCTV). The IPC later asked CCTV to explain why the speech was not translated and muted. , the IPC has not yet received an update from CCTV, and Parson's speech was completely cut on replay from CCTV's official website later. In addition, Parson's reaction for Ukraine National Team during the Parade of Nation also been cut and replaced by other scene on CCTV's opening ceremony live. In his speech, Parsons wrongly referred Xi Jinping as the president of the Republic of China, which is the official name of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and recognized as part of People's Republic of China in Mainland China. Parsons later apologized for this.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Sports, China Opening Ceremony Ceremonies in China Paralympics opening ceremonies