Celebrating togetherness & harmony at Beijing 2022

In 2021, the Olympic motto was revised for the first time in over 120 years, with the word "together" being added. The new motto now reads "Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together."

"In today's fragile world with so much uncertainty, the Olympic Games are more than ever a powerful symbol of hope, peace and solidarity for all of humanity in all our diversity," International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach wrote in the foreword to the Olympic Manifesto scroll.

As the world continues to battle a relentless virus, and as anti-globalization and unilateralism pose severe challenges to the international community, the 2022 Winter Games could not have come at a better time - the world needs to unite together and celebrate humanity.

Given that this year's Winter Olympics coincides with the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Festival's traditional focus on harmony certainly takes on a more global significance.

"The world today is in dire need of inclusiveness, which the Chinese culture of harmony without uniformity celebrates," said Chen.

"Given the values and spirit embedded in the Spring Festival, it is a festival to be celebrated not only by people in China but also those around the world," he added.

A fitting tribute to this occasion is the third edition of the Olympic Manifesto scroll published by Civilization Magazine.

The 60-meter-long scroll mainly centers on the Spring Festival and Winter Olympics, showing the integration of diverse world cultures. It also encompasses the festival culture of 23 host countries and 43 host cities of previous Olympic Games.

"This signifies that the culture of the East and the West meet in Beijing and develop with mutual understanding," explained Lou.

Anticipation and excitement

As the Spring Festival approaches, decorations such as red lanterns and Chinese knots haven been hung up at the Main Media Center, hotels and the Athletes Villages to create a festive atmosphere.

"I'm honored to be in China for the lunar celebration. I'm looking forward to celebrating the New Year here in China," Walters told Xinhua.

These sentiments were echoed by a number of media and supporting staff from overseas.

Big Air Shougang, which will undertake the big air events of snowboard and freestyle skiing, was the first competition venue that entered the closed-loop management mode.

Rafal Robert, a ski jumping platform technician from Poland, has stayed within the closed-loop for nearly a month, and thus can already experience the festivities on Xiao Nian, which literally means "Minor New Year" in Chinese and is considered to be the prologue of the Spring Festival.

"I'm very happy to receive a gourd-shaped souvenir from my Chinese colleagues. They told me that the gourd represents good fortune and wealth in Chinese culture. It's very interesting," said Robert.

Maja Hrvatin, who is working for TV Slovenia during the 2022 Winter Games, hopes some of the Spring Festival traditions can show a bright future for humanity.

"I know that you are not allowed to sweep the room on the New Year's day, because you sweep away the joy and good luck," she said.

"It's a nice symbol. I really hope that all the people will come together despite all the obstacles, like everything going on with the virus, so in that way it's nice symbolism."