Winter Olympics: 11 key moments from Beijing 2022 opening ceremony

Spectacular lighting of the Olympic flame follows an understated but beautifully realised opening ceremony

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Beijing again hosted an opening ceremony for the Olympics and, like that for the Summer Games in 2008, it was directed by Zhang Yimou. The event was on a much smaller and more muted scale than that memorable occasion - with 3,000 people taking part as opposed to 15,000. The motto, in a Games inevitably affected by the Covid pandemic and mired with political controversy, was to be simple, safe and splendid.