BEIJING, February 3. /TASS/. China’s world-famous movie star Jackie Chan carried the Olympic flame atop the Great Wall as part of the Olympic Torch relay ahead of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, which kick off on Friday.

The 67-year-old Hong Kong movie star told local daily Renmin R·bao later that he was proud to be an Olympic torchbearer for the second time. Jackie Chan also carried an Olympic torch during a traditional relay, when Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

The 2022 Olympic Torch relay is held between February 2 and 4, 2022 (the date of the opening of the Games) with the participation of 1,200 torchbearers. The three host zones of the Games Beijing’s city proper, Beijing’s Yanqing District, and the city of Zhangjiakou in the neighboring Hebei Province welcome this traditional relay.

Due to the ongoing global spread of the novel coronavirus, the route of the Olympic torch relay was significantly reduced. The relay is held without spectators in attendance along its whole path.

2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in the Chinese capital of Beijing are scheduled to be held from February 4-20, while the Paralympic Winter Games will be held on March 4-13.

During the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015, Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games making the Chinese capital the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2008) as well as the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2022).

Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Olympics and Paralympics in a tight race, beating Kazakhstan’s Almaty in 2015, by chalking up 44 votes against its rival’s 40.