The Olympic flame is now burning in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, poised in the center of an extremely unique cauldron that’s shaped like …
The Olympic flame is now burning in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest, poised in the center of an extremely unique cauldron that’s shaped like a huge snowflake. Rather than an inferno, its flame comes from a single torch, and the identity of one of its lighters made a major political statement. Winter Olympics opening ceremony director Zhang Yimou had promised the cauldron would « certainly be different » and would take people by surprise. And those are the impressions many people quickly shared — along with questions such as « Is that it? » The large snowflake comprises smaller snowflakes bearing participating countries’ names. And while many viewers appreciated that symbolism, they often circled back to a larger debate over a small issue: the cauldron. Both the Beijing 2020 and the Olympics’ official tweets met with a wide range of responses, as some people criticized the cauldron, and others defended it as being part of a broader theme of putting on a less wasteful Olympics.
