“Welcome to Hangzhou!" Students of Hangzhou Olympic Sports Experimental Primary School were celebrating the 200-day+ countdown to Hangzhou Asian Games. Photo: Chen Linsen
By Fang Jingyi
Mar 7 marked the 200-day＋ countdown to the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, which is scheduled to take place from Sept 23 to Oct 8 this year after a one-year postponement.
A series of celebrations were held at the host city Hangzhou and the co-host cities. Wenzhou held the second fitness run starting ceremony, with 425 enthusiasts participating, and more than 130 children from Ningbo painted their dreamful Asian Games with brushes at the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre.
On the same day, the first batch of the Hangzhou Asian Games official Esports merchandise was official launched, with 54 kinds of products in three categories.
First official performance debuted in Asian Games Village
The celebration gala themed "Spectacular Asian Games, Amazing Village" was staged at the Flag Plaza of the Asian Games Village on Mar 7.
As the first official performance held in the Village, this themed event showcased 16 performances selected from the repertoire of warm-up programs for the opening and closing ceremonies of Hangzhou Asian Games with characteristics of the regions across Zhejiang Province.
The event was divided into two sections, namely the warm-up show and the main show, which are themed "Exploring the Village" and "Getting Ready for Spring", respectively. "Exploring the Village" made the debut of the Asian Games Village and provided on-site audiences with a preview of the Asian Games atmosphere. "Getting ready for Spring" presented various literary and cultural performances celebrating the arrival of spring.
'Now until the Future' released
Now until the Future, the official promotional song of Hangzhou Asian Games, was released on the 200-da+ countdown to the Games. The Hangzhou Asian Organizing Committee (HAGOC) invited Wei Wei, the representative singer of the well-known song Asian Heroes of the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, to lead the MV. The MV has been filmed six times in batches since May 2022 and invited famous athletes such as Wu Dajing, Wu Jingyu, Xue Ming, Xiao Ruoteng, Gong Li, as well as nearly 100 well-known singers such as Pin Kuan, Zhou Shen, Lyu Wei and Bai Xue.
Fun Run events ignite passion across Asia
Hangzhou Asian Games has gained increasing popularity among participating countries. Hosted by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and organized by the National (Regional) Olympic Committee, the "Fun Run to the Hangzhou Asian Games" has recently landed on Qatar, Singapore, Laos, and Vietnam, which were all instant success. The Myanmar leg of the Fun Run starts tomorrow, while Brunei leg is to start on Mar 12.
Since its first overseas stop was launched in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Oct 2, 2022, the Fun Run has visited more than ten countries in Central Asia, West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, accompanied by a variety of cultural and sports activities tailored to local conditions and features, to show the charm of Asian customs and sports culture, and convey the spirit of friendship, unity and cooperation.
Hangzhou speeds up final preparation
The sports boom fostered by the Asian Games has also gradually formed a "10-minute fitness circle" for locals with embedded sports facilities and primary and secondary school sports venues in the city.
All 56 Asian (Para) Games venues are open to the public since last year, and citizens only need to log in to the application "Asian Games Venues Online" to book any of the Asian Games venues using their mobile phones, benefiting more than two million people.
So far, the selection interview of the supplementary recruitment of volunteers and the selection of medical and health personnel have been completed and starting from March, Asian Games venues will gradually host various competitions to test their operational functions.
In addition, the Chef de Mission Seminar for the 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou on Apr 25-26. On the CDM Seminar, which is an essential step towards every multi-sports game, the HAGOC will comprehensively introduce the latest progress of the preparations for Hangzhou Asian Games to the Olympic Committees of the 45 participating countries (regions) and arrange for participants to visit the Asian Games Village, competition venues and other facilities.