Opening Ceremony in Chinese style.
The main social event of the day was the opening ceremony of the 24th World Winter Universiade. The organisation was very good, with lots of locals on the streets taking photos of the participants as well as hundreds of police officers. Traffic was blocked and diverted due to nearly 100 buses carrying athletes and their entourages. The programme itself was undoubtedly very impressive, ending with a loud fireworks display in front of the hall, hundreds of dancers, skaters, singers and ballerinas, including even one Czech woman as a popular star (a kind of violinist named Zina, who has been living in China for three years). Also a big star was a Russian singer singing "so high it cracks glass", very popular in China. Judging the quality and standard of the programme artistically is a matter of personal taste. Tomorrow's first match - we're looking forward to it. Pictured here is one of the final scenes of the ceremony.