With 100 days until Asian Games, Hangzhou feels ‘alive’

The Asian Games’ flame was lit yesterday to mark 100 days until the competition, with an elaborate ceremony at an ancient Chinese archaeological site that used the sun’s rays to set the torch alight.  

The Games in Hangzhou were due to take place in September 2022 but were postponed by a year because of China’s strict zero-Covid rules.  On Wednesday, organisers admitted there had been “a lot of difficulties” but said that venues were ready and that preparations were in the final stage.  

 “I am very proud,” an 18-year-old student named Ye told AFP in the eastern Chinese city yesterday.  

 “(Hangzhou) just feels alive, and full of the atmosphere of the Asian Games.” The flame lighting ceremony took place at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Liangzhu city, about an hour from Hangzhou, and was attended by government officials and local media.  

Against a verdant mountain backdrop, over a dozen “flame collectors” in long white dresses processed among the ruins, before one woman knelt beside a large concave mirror and used it to set a slim torch alight.  

The fire was then transferred to a cauldron before being passed on again to a flame lantern, with state media saying it would be used in a torch relay that starts in mid-September.  
In downtown Hangzhou on Thursday, an outdoor screen by the city’s famous lake showed a countdown to the Games’ opening.  

Adverts for the competition and shops selling merchandise were widespread, with pop-up events to commemorate the 100-day mark taking place at a railway station in the city.  AFP