Olympic opening features seasonal video

At the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Feb 4, Long Jiangbo made great efforts to present the best of the country, with a seasonal theme that started with spring.

The three-minute countdown video depicting the changes of the year through poetry and pictures was created by Long and his team.

Last June, Long was invited by Zhang Yimou, director of both the opening ceremonies of Beijing's Summer and Winter Olympic Games, to take charge of the countdown video.

The idea to begin with the 24 solar terms on the Chinese lunar calendar came from director Zhang, Long said. "I am honored to join the team and want to do my best to present it well."

Born in 1976 in Ningxiang of Changsha, Hunan province, Long has won several national awards for directing.

He said he encountered two difficulties when directing and designing the video for the Games. The first was to select suitable poems to match each of the 24 solar terms.

"To select suitable poems is not easy," he said. "I tend to choose ones that are beautiful and easy to present in pictures. Those chosen also need to be understandable for the audience."