Students bring spring to Olympic opening

Following a countdown to the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games using 24 Chinese solar terms, the Li Chun program —presented on Friday by 393 martial arts students at National Stadium — offered a visual feast of blooming flowers and waves of green grass, signaling the beginning of spring.

The students, from two martial arts schools in Shandong province and ranging in age from 14 to 18, wielded 9.5-meter-long flexible poles that emitted multiple colors.

The students, needed to memorize complex movements for the routine, said Zang Hua, vice-principal of the Zhonghua Martial Art School in Laizhou, Yantai, who is also a coach.

"The biggest challenge is to control the poles, which weigh 5 kilograms each," he said.

To prevent the poles from shaking, the students spent long hours of practice near the seaside in Yantai. They learned to overcome wind and improve stability.

"They trained more than four months for about seven hours a day," Zang said.

"New problems arose at every formal rehearsal, and we had focused on improvement. After a lot of trials, we were all ready to present a perfect performance at the opening ceremony."