Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Impresses – Here’s How To Watch It

This morning marked the official start of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The ceremony was held at 8 p.m. local time in China at the National Stadium also known as the Bird’s Nest, and broadcast live for early birds at 7:00 a.m. on NBC.

Those who still want to see the ceremony can tune in to NBC or its streaming app Peacock for full-day coverage and discussion of the events of the Opening Ceremony. There will also be an enhanced primetime presentation, if you want to see it all unspoiled, taking place at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Beijing is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, but the grand choreography of the Summer 2008 ceremony was a far cry from this locked-down and scaled-back affair. There were still some great pyrotechnics and creative set design on display, with the highlight being 91 snowflake-shaped placards featuring each country’s name that were shown in front of every athlete delegation at the Parade of Nations. The snowflakes then combined to form a giant snowflake, which the torch was placed in, to light the Olympic Flame at the end.

Cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Nordic combined athlete Zhao Jiawen carried the flame in its last leg to light the Olympic Cauldron. According to the Chinese government, Yilamujiang has Uyghur roots, which may be an attempted gesture towards criticism they have received for human rights violations against that community.

Uyghurs are an ethnic minority group in China that has been the target of a mass detention campaign by the CCP since 2014. That is why you won’t see President Joe Biden and several other western leaders attending the games despite their athletes being present, as they attempted a “diplomatic boycott” of the events. Several other leaders including Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, were in attendance.

Here are some photos of Team USA, led by flag bearers Brittany Bowe and John Shuster after the first-voted flag bearer Elana Meyers Taylor tested positive for Covid-19.