The stunning five rings at the Winter Olympics ceremony [Photo/fqgw.beijing.gov.cn]

The audience was in awe of the brilliant appearance of the five Olympic rings at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Feb 4.

The display of the Olympic rings has always been one of the most important features in the opening ceremonies of all previous Olympic games.

At that moment, applause and cheers echoed around the venue. Shen Jigang, who was standing among the audience, finally let out a long breath. "The whole opening ceremony is the most tense moment for me!" he said during an interview.

Shen Jigang is interviewed after the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. [Photo/fqgw.beijing.gov.cn]

Shen Jigang is the technical director of the aerospace company Long March Tianmin’s Winter Olympics team headquartered in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area (BDA). 

The enterprise put in place the ground stage system and performance installations, and completed the most important ceremonial performances, such as the torch display, five-ring display, and video playback.

Long March Tianmin undertakes torch display, five-ring display, video playback and other tasks at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. [Photo/fqgw.beijing.gov.cn]

In this visual feast, what impressed the audience most was the galaxy flying down and condensing into a huge ice cube. 

This ice cube has a total weight of about 400 metric tons and a lifting weight of 180 tons. The lifting load to be realized in this 84 meters×42 meters×10 meters foundation pit exceeds eight times that of the large-scale lifting platform in a theater.

The Long March Tianmin R&D team precisely controlled the motor to drive four sets of synchronous transmission units consisting of 16 chains and 16 steel wire ropes, so that the lifting and positioning accuracy of the ice cube can be controlled within 1 millimeter.

The team developed bones for the five rings—aluminum alloy truss structure, clothing—LED display, jacket—diffusion plate, and finally designed the five rings by referring to some methods of aerospace structure design. 

Just like the rocket body, the Olympic symbol is strong and light, so that it can hold firm even when encountering a strong wind of level six during the nearly 90-minute ceremony.

More than 20 program revisions, a team of more than 200 people, more than 700 days of hard work, and hundreds of physical experimental demonstrations finally produced the perfect performance of the opening ceremony.