Figure skater Zhao Hongbo carried the flag for the Chinese delegation during the opening ceremony of the Sixth Asian Winter Games Sunday evening in Changchun, a northeast city in China.

Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the opening of the sixth Asian Winter Games Sunday evening in Changchun, a northeast city in China.   Chinanews, Changchun, Jan. 29 - Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the opening of the sixth Asian Winter Games Sunday evening in Changchun, a northeast city in China.

 

OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.

 

The largest-ever Winter Asiad this year features all 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) for the first time in its history. 15 countries and regions, including Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, will make their debut.

 

In the opening ceremony, a trio of laser rays flashed to ignite the torch after six athletes turned on the three laser equipment.

 

DPR Korea and South Korea marched together under the flag with an image of the Korean peninsula for the second time in the Asian Winter Games, with the first in Aomori, Japan in 2003.

 

China has dispatched a delegation composed of 261 athletes, including 81 men and 79 women, to compete in all the 47 events. Figure skater Zhao Hongbo carried the flag for the team during the opening ceremony.

 

The weeklong Games, to be co-hosted by Changchun and nearby Jilin cities in China's northeast Jilin province, will give out 369 medals covering five main events, including figure skating, ice hockey and speed skating.