The Beijing 2022 Olympic Games opening ceremony kicked off at the National Stadium on the evening of February 4. The wonderful opening ceremony triggered a heated discussion among international students in Wuhan.
HZAU international students watching the opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympic Games (from right to left, Ali Abbas from Pakistan, Bernard Ntezimana from Rwanda and Alamimohammad Murtaza from Afghanistan) (Photo by Ali Abbas)
Many international students had a heated discussion about the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games: The opening day of the 2022 Winter Olympics coincides with the “Beginning of spring”. Everything comes back to life and everywhere is full of vitality. On the screen in the stadium, the Yellow River seems to surge from the sky and then slowly condense into ice. Children sing the theme song “Snowflake”, and everyone looks forward to a shared future.
Bernard Ntezimana, a Ph.D. student from Rwanda, said, “At the opening ceremony of Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, we saw many representatives from different countries. China’s preparation for the Olympics Games also impressed us a lot. We are keenly waiting for the competition to begin.”
Ali Abbas, a Pakistani doctoral student who watched the opening ceremony with Bernard Ntezimana, said, “What an incredible opening ceremony! This is the first time I've seen anything like that at an Olympics. I am proud to see a flying falcon from Pakistan participating in this magnificent event. The part where they create snowflakes of different countries by lighting, the light show was breathtaking, and the amazing performance by a young trumpet player, barely older than eight years, was beyond words. Together for the shared future!” He continued, “What struck me most about the entrance ceremony of the athletes was that they get welcomed in the order of the number of Chinese strokes they make, not alphabetically in English! I mean, the whole Chinese culture has developed! The scene is breathtaking. The ice and snowflake, as well as the Chinese knot with the tiger motif, are incredible. I can’t brag about myself.”
Alamimohammad Murtaza, a PhD student from Afghanistan, said, “The Olympics is inherently a very important historical event and bring different nations together, and I am very happy to witness the opening ceremony of the 24th Winter Olympics in Beijing.”
Talking about the significance of the Games and the views of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Alamimohammad Murtaza said, “The opening ceremony was held in spite of the difficult and unknown conditions of the pandemic, with political representatives and athletes from different countries. As I expected, the opening ceremony was very well organized and planned with spectacular presentations and decorations. Personally, I have a very good feeling about the Olympics and that the world is approaching the same goal, which is unity and empathy. During the years that I have been in China, it has become very clear to me that the People’s Republic of China is always trying to bring all countries together and bridge all those differences. Finally, I wish good luck and health to all the athletes, and send my congratulations in advance to all the medalists and those who participated in holding these games.”
Source text: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2022/0221/62637.shtml
Translated by: Mao Renmin, Sun Ling, Rao Mei, Wang Shengjiao
Supervised by: Zhang Juan
