The 2022 Olympics officially opened on Friday in China. Beijing is making Olympic history, becoming the first city to host both Summer and Winter Games.

“I declare the 24th Beijing Winter Olympics open, said President Xi Jinping andsuddenly the Olympic rings, improbable mixtures of ice and special effects, appeared in the middle of the Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest” and built especially for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Conceived by the Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the opening ceremony of the 2022 Olympics unsurprisingly highlighted a Young, modern and diverse China.

With 3,000 persons, Zhang Yimou notably presented the 56 ethnic groups and the Chinese civil society during the martial arrival of the Chinese flag, carried by eight soldiers with an almost robotic gait.

The ceremony took place in front of stands filled to a third of their capacity by spectators invited for the occasion.

Following the traditional parade of nations with the 91 delegations competing, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, hoped that the Olympic spirit could extinguish the many controversies that accompanied the preparation of this Beijing fortnight.