BEIJING (Reuters) – China lit its Olympic flame on Wednesday after the arrival of the ceremonial torch from Athens, ahead of Beijing’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Games in February.
Beijing will host the Winter Games from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20, becoming the first city to host both the summer and winter games, amid a COVID-19 pandemic that means overseas spectators will be excluded.
Beijing Communist Party chief Cai Qi lit a cauldron from a flame that left Athens on Oct. 19 and travelled to Beijing in a red lantern designed in the likeness of a Han Dynasty tomb artefact, carried by torchbearers decked in white.
The Olympic flame will be on display at Beijing’s Olympic Park from Wednesday.
(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
