Almost 3,000 athletes from 91 nations will compete across the Games.
The Olympic torch was placed into the centre of a giant snowflake, which was then illuminated to become the cauldron. The snowflake is made up of placards with the names of the 91 nations competing in this edition of the Winter Olympics.
Beijing is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. It held the Summer Games back in 2008 and won the host bid for the 2022 Winter Games in 2015.
And Beijing's National Stadium, commonly referred to as the Bird's Nest, is also the first venue to host opening and closing ceremonies for both the Summer and Winter Olympics. In 2008, the stadium was used for competitions, but this year, it will be only used for the ceremonies.
Just as in Tokyo six months ago, there were no paying spectators present in the stands, although there were diplomats and team members applauding the athletes on.
Representatives of 56 ethnic groups from across China relayed the national flag into the stadium to begin the opening ceremony.
The Olympic rings themselves emerged from a frozen block of ice, with athletes entering the arena underneath them.
Seven torchbearers carried six torches in the final torch relay inside the Bird's Nest. All the torchbearers are Chinese winter sport athletes born in sequential decades – the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the last two torchbearers from the 2000s. The sequential order is meant to show the continuity of winter sports across generations. The last torch was shared by two 2022 Olympians and they lit the Olympic cauldron together.
The lighting of the Olympic cauldron marks the official start of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games.
FYI, national alpine skiers Jeffrey Webb and Aruwin Salehhuddin are representing Malaysia. The national contingent was garbed in dark green and black winter clothing, topped off with a white snow beanie hat with the Jalur Gemilang on the front.
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