The first rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou which starts on September 23 in east China's Zhejiang Province, was completed on Monday.

As the lead director of both the opening and closing ceremonies, Sha Xiaolan told China Media Group (CMG) that the keynote colors for the opening ceremony are blue and green. "We want to display the beauty of ecology, humanity and sports of China, a modern civilization, to the world in a picture of beautiful sceneries including green mountains and blue waters," Sha said.

The first rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, August 29, 2023. /CMG

Sha revealed that the concept of the opening ceremony for the Asian Games is "concise but not simple." "We want to make the ceremony 'concise,' but that doesn't mean we only do 'simple' work," Sha told CMG. "We have always wanted to apply the ideas of creative transformation and innovative development in combining traditional Chinese culture with modern art technology to fill the ceremony with both Chinese characteristics and Asian qualities, creating an atmosphere of 'the whole world being a happy family.'"

Igniting the flame has always been one of the most important parts of the Asian Games ceremony. Sha and his team want to add the first-ever digital igniting to a real flame at the ceremony.

Sha Xiaolan, lead director of both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, speaks to CMG in an interview, August 29, 2023. /CMG

"We have seen various kinds of ways to ignite the flame in the history of Asian Games. There were so many classic examples of doing it. So, how do we achieve our breakthrough?" Sha told CMG. "We will bring it back to the origin of sports. Sport is about building up a good physique and improving health. It's what every Chinese should do and what everyone in the world should do."

"That's why we want to bring as many people as possible to participate in igniting the flame," Sha added. "Instead of having one torch-bearer light the flame, we want many people to do it together, both in the digital world and in the real world."

By Monday, there were over 80 million people who had applied to ignite the digital flame on the app "Smart Hangzhou 2022."