Celebrations were held in Beijing today to mark 500 days to go until the start of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games ©Beijing 2022

Today marked 500 days until the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, an occasion marked with a series of events with the highlight being a ceremony on the Great Wall.

Musical performances took centre stage on the historic monument, with an Olympic-themed paper cutting art exhibition and activities with Chinese rights-holding broadcaster CCTV also taking place.

Earlier this month, as part of the 500 Days to Go activities, an Air China aircraft was wrapped in Olympic branding at Beijing Capital International Airport.

The aircraft, named “Winter Olympic Ice and Snow”, bears the emblems of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and images of the mascots, Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon.

Senior leaders from the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Beijing 2022 and from other organisations joined its inaugural journey from Beijing to Chengdu, the host of next year’s Summer World University Games.

A special ceremony was held along the Great Wall to celebrate 500 days until the start of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing ©Beijing 2022
A special ceremony was held along the Great Wall to celebrate 500 days until the start of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing ©Beijing 2022

During the flight, Sha Tong, a host from China Media Group, and world champion figure skaters Pang Qing and Tong Jian conducted interactive Olympic Winter Games quizzes with passengers.

Once they landed, the figure skating partners joined the Beijing 2022 team and 50 local leaders for a winter sports-themed class that encouraged young people to participate in ice and snow sports.   

In addition, Beijing 2022 and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have published a Chinese language version of the Olympic Values Education Programme.

This resource promotes the Olympic values and facilitates the sustainable development of Olympic education, providing students with various educational activities and teachers with relevant tools, as well as practical training.

The 2022 Winter Olympics is due to take place across three venue clusters - downtown Beijing, the city's northwest Yanqing district and Zhangjiakou's Chongli district.

An Air China plane was marked in special Beijing 2022 branding, including the official mascots Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, to mark 500 days to go ©Air China
An Air China plane was marked in special Beijing 2022 branding, including the official mascots Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, to mark 500 days to go ©Air China

The Chinese capital will be the world's first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, after having staged the 2008 Games.

Preparations are beginning to reach full momentum again following a short lull because of the coronavirus crisis.

"Preparing for the Games is just like running a marathon," Han Zirong, a vice-president and secretary-general of Beijing 2022, said.

"We are more than halfway through the race now but, with the pandemic still going on, we are facing an uphill battle."

The build-up to the Games is also set to be overshadowed by growing protests over China's human rights record, particularly over the alleged mass internment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and the introduction of new national security law in Hong Kong.