Beijing Women's Federation

In the thick atmosphere of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Beijing Women's Federation (BWF) organized several events to celebrate International Women's Day, which falls on March 8. A series of short videos have been produced in both Chinese and English to extend International Women's Day greetings to women from China and abroad. The production is a special part of BWF’s events to celebrate International Women’s Day and one of brand events of Beijing women’s international exchange. The Office of Foreign Affairs Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee gave guidance and support to the event.

Highlighting Women’s Strengths

The series videos are designed to make the stories of athletes and other women representatives involved in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics better known and to highlight their understanding of the Olympic spirit Together.

The screenshots show women’s participation in the work relevant to the Beijing 2022.

Scientist Shao Yun led her research team to independently develop a system that can conduct professional assessment of environmental factors in snow sports and assist people in making improvisational decisions. The new system has filled a gap in technological support in making precise weather forecasts for snow sports and offered domestic athletes scientific assistance during their training and competition.

Tang Yan is a craftswoman and inheritor of Beijing silk figurine making, which is a skill included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages. She has integrated modern technology with traditional crafts and taken a creative approach to produce her Tang-style cloth dolls, which were presented to Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, a member of the Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and president of the IOC Coordination Committee for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, during his visit to Beijing. In fact, many other forms of intangible cultural heritage like paper-cuttings and shadow puppets made by skilled craftswomen in Beijing were given to foreign leaders and athletes during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, making the stories of Chinese intangible cultural heritages better known and further promote Chinese culture.

Justyna Katarzyna Szpakowska is a Polish woman and a guest professor at the Communication University of China (CUC) in Beijing. As someone who has lived and worked in China for 12 years, she has witnessed Beijing’s development, built solid friendships with local people and used new media to connect China and the world. She expressed her hope that people around the world will work together for common development.

The producers of the short videos also gave coverage to women volunteers across the city, who took part in prevention and control of COVID-19, garbage sorting, and visited people whose family members were involved in closed-loop management affairs during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. They used their concrete actions to support the Beijing 2022, convey the Olympic spirit and create a positive image of Beijing in the eyes of the world.

Promoting Gender Equality

The Gender Equality Commitment by the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is a landmark, vividly conveying the Olympic spirit of equality, respect, understanding and inclusiveness and demonstrating China's determined steps toward making gender equality a code of conduct and standard of value abided by whole society.

The screenshots show women from various departments of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games sharing their opinions.

Wu Dahong, director of the Venue Planning and Construction Department of the organising committee, said by cooperating with BWF in organizing families to participate in the preparation for the event, many families have closely connected with Beijing 2022 and even the nation.

According to She Ping, director of the International Relations Department of the organising committee, women accounted for about 70 percent of workers involved in protocol matters and ceremonial events. 

Xu Hong, another official with the organising committee, said more women attend the Olympic and Paralympic Games and if women work together and support one another, they will promote the building of a more inclusive world.

Women workers from the General Planning, Volunteer and Media and Communications departments also talked about their understanding of women’s strengths in winter Olympics.

Sharing Happiness in Beijing

The short videos also focus on Beijing's endeavors to create diversified and high-quality cultural activity spaces for women and children.

For instance, the Meihousishi Jingshan Civic Cultural Center has become a place where people can enjoy reading, singing and dancing, opera, and traditional Chinese literature and where foreign and Chinese women communicate.

The screenshots show women and children take part in cultural activities in Meihousishi Jingshan Civic Cultural Center.

This year’s International Women’s Day brings special experience as it coincides with the 2022 Games. Women’s vigor and strengths make people have deeper understanding of the significance of gender equality and have more confidence in working together for a shared future.

The event was supported by the Culture and Ceremonies Department of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Beijing Women's Association for Science and Technology, Beijing Qiaoniang Association for Promoting Handicrafts Development and the Women’s Federation of Dongcheng District.