Olympic song welcomes world united in sport

See You in Beijing, a Chinese song that was first released to mark the 100-day countdown to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, has been performed by a number of singers, actors and famous Chinese athletes at a grand gala held at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in the capital on Thursday. The event opened the 22nd Meet in Beijing International Arts Festival and Meet in Beijing Olympic Culture Festival.

The song was first released in October last year and on December 26 a music video for the song was released. The video featured 55 Chinese athletes, including Ye Qiaobo, the speed skater who won China’s first-ever Olympic Winter Games medal (a silver medal) at the 1992 Games in Albertville, France; table tennis player Deng Yaping, the quadruple Chinese Olympic gold medalist; Former world diving champion Tian Liang and Yang Qian, Olympic gold medalists at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the women’s 10-meter air rifle event.

The ballad, with lyrics written by Wang Pingjiu and music composed by Chang Shilei, expresses greetings and a welcome message to all participants of the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games.

Chang is a pop singer-songwriter who graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and is known for writing the 2008 Beijing Olympics theme song You and Me, performed at the opening ceremony by Chinese singer Liu Huan and the British soprano. Sarah Brightman.

Wang, a seasoned songwriter, led the creative team behind the song, Beijing Welcomes You, which was released in April 2008, marking the countdown to 100 days of the Beijing Olympics that year.

“I’m glad that the song, Beijing Welcomes You, is still loved by many people now. When we planned to release this new song, See You in Beijing, we wanted to bring people the same warmth and enjoyment as Beijing song Welcomes You did it, ”Wang said in an interview with Beijing Evening News.

“Like Beijing Welcomes You, this new song has a very calming melody and is easy to catch. The lyrics are narrative, just like chatting with a friend,” Wang said.

In the interview, Wang recalled that it took a long time for him to name the new song.

“Despite the hardships presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, people from all over the world will gather in Beijing for the Olympics, speaking of friendship, peace and trust. The name of the song, See you in Beijing, like that of the song lyrics, is very simple and sincere, ”said Wang.

Wang also wrote the lyrics for the motto song for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, titled Together for a Shared Future, which was released on November 15.

Starring young pop idol Yi Yangqianxi, or Jackson Yee, the music video follows true stories of people linked to the Winter Olympics, including Beijing resident Gong Hubiao, 60, who enjoys sports. since childhood and has carved designs from 30 Winter Olympic events into a themed seal set.

Since the song’s release, it has gained popularity across the country, and many people have made short videos of themselves singing and dancing to the song.