Featuring an extensive display of local culture and a high-tech visual feast, a spectacular gala show captured the imagination of the continent on Friday night, as President Xi Jinping declared the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin open.

Almost three decades after hosting the multi-sports event for the first time, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang province kicked off a bigger and better encore to the 1996 edition by promising to set a higher standard and provide a more inclusive stage for Asia's winter sports talent to compete, while sharing friendship in Northeast China's popular winter wonderland.

Following an opening performance, which saw 34 children, representing the Games' 34 delegations, light a giant ice lantern together in a gesture of Asian unity, Xi announced the opening of the Games, officially kicking off the biggest Winter Asiad ever.

A record 1,275 athletes will contest in 64 medal events across six sports — skating, ice hockey, curling, skiing, biathlon and ski mountaineering.

Accompanying the announcement, digital fireworks thrilled the 8,000 spectators at the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center, while real firecrackers sparkled in the sky above the Harbin Ice and Snow World, where opening ceremony festivities were also taking place.

With the giant floor screen lighting the way, the athletes' parade proceeded to the melody of Ice, Snow and Asia, played to the inspiring beat of traditional instruments from across the continent, as each delegation marched onto the stage under glittering clouds of silver snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.

During the parade, images of Harbin's mountains and rivers, its iconic ice sculptures and the city flower — the lilac — were projected onto the background screen, allowing visiting athletes and spectators to enjoy the host's unique characteristics in an immersive way.