On January 31, South African newspapers Star and Business Day will publish singed article by Consul General Tang Zhongdong with the title Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022: Together for a Shared Future, celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Tiger and Beijing Winter Olympics.
The full text is as follows:
Today is the Chinese New Year eve of 2022, known as the "Spring Festival". In China, “Spring Festival” is the first day of the Chinese lunar year. Rooted in traditions and customs passed down from generation to generation, it is the most important day of the year and the most important festival for the Chinese people around the world. Tomorrow, 1 February, the Year of the Tiger will begin on the Chinese lunar calendar. The Tiger is closely related to the long-standing Chinese culture, and is a symbol of "wisdom", "bravery" and "strength".
At the start of the Chinese Year of the Tiger, which symbolizing strength, vitality and good luck, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games will officially open on 4 February. Beijing will thus become the world's first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympic Games is the world's largest comprehensive winter sports event. President of China Mr. Xi Jinping stressed ever that it is China’s solemn pledge to ensure the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics are “a full success”.
Athletes from all over the world are arriving in Beijing for this long-awaited snow and ice feast and gathering under the Olympic flag during recent days. In just a few days, a streamlined, safe and splendid Winter Olympics will be presented to the world. The Olympic Games has rekindled the Olympic passion in the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese people. More and more Chinese have set foot on ice rinks and snow resorts, making winter sports popular and meeting the objective of “involving 300 million people in winter sports”, which will promote winter sports worldwide be highlighted more than ever.
Hosting a “green, ecological, low-carbon and sustainable” Olympic Games has been the core principles of the Beijing Winter Olympics, highlighting characteristics of being scientific, green, smart and streamlined. The construction of the sports venues for the Beijing Winter Olympics has created many firsts in the fields of technology, environmental-protection and architecture. In order to implement green venues and reduce the adverse impact on the ecological environment, the Beijing Winter Olympics has prioritized ecological protection as a principle in all aspects, throughout the entire process from design, construction, operation to post-Games utilization. The Beijing Winter Olympics becomes the first Olympic Games in history to use 100% green electricity such as photovoltaic and wind power by applying the world's first 500kV flexible DC power grid project. Thus, Beijing becomes the first host city in the history of the Winter Olympics to widely use carbon dioxide transcritical direct cooling ice-making technology with near-zero carbon emissions through technological innovation.
It is an important consideration for the Beijing Winter Olympics that the Games will be people-oriented and enhance the people's sense of well-being. One of the major features of Beijing Winter Olympic Games is to make full use of the legacy of Beijing Summer Olympic Games in 2008. The "Bird's Nest", the national stadium in Beijing hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 will stage again in 2022 for the Winter Olympic Games. The "Water Cube", which hosted the Beijing 2008 Olympic water games, will be transformed into the "Ice Cube". The venues are a collection of sports events, mass fitness, leisure, exhibition, and social welfare. All the venues are designed not only for competition games, but meeting ordinary people’s demands for sports after the Olympic Games. It is the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics to predict and optimize post-Games utilization, leaving valuable asset for the Chinese people and achieving a win-win development for both urban construction and Olympic Games.
Hosting a safe Olympic Games is also top priority for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Against the global pandemic, hosting a healthy and safe Olympic Games for all stakeholders faces unprecedented challenges. Working closely with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralyzing Committee, the Beijing Winter Olympic Organizing Committee is cooperating with experts in the fields of healthcare and sports projects delivery to identify the necessary pandemic prevention and control measures to ensure a safe and successful Beijing Winter Olympics.
The official motto of Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games is "Together for a Shared Future”, which embodies the power of solidarity and collective, the three values of Olympism “excellence, friendship and respect”, and the pursuit of solidarity, peace and progress. This motto is in line with that of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games - "One World, One Dream", both embody the concept of sharing. It is more advanced with the times and reflects the common aspirations of all countries in the world to join together for a better future. In particular, facing challenges of the pandemic, the only way to overcome them is to stand together, help each other, and be “Together for a Shared Future”
China is welcoming athletes from all over the world including South Africa with open arms. We look forward to their great games and their stories of peace and friendship on this magnificent stage of ice and snow. The Olympic Games is a great event for all of us. When the Olympic flags flies at the foot of the Great Wall in Beijing, a new and exciting chapter of the ice and snow story belonging to China and the Olympics will begin.
We bid farewell to the extraordinary 2021, the Year of the Ox, and welcome a brand new 2022, the Year of the Tiger. On behalf of all the staff with the Chinese Consulate General in Johannesburg, I extend our warmest greetings and best wishes for the Chinese New Year, wish a great success of Beijing Winter Olympics, and wish people of South Africa happy, healthy and auspicious!