In pictures: The Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing

Dancers are seen at the Beijing National Stadium before the start of the opening ceremony on Friday, February 4.Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Updated 1207 GMT (2007 HKT) February 4, 2022

Dancers are seen at the Beijing National Stadium before the start of the opening ceremony on Friday, February 4.Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Much of the world's attention is on the Beijing National Stadium as the venue hosts the opening ceremony for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The stadium, commonly referred to as the Bird's Nest because of its design, also hosted the opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing is the first city in history to host both a Summer and a Winter Olympics.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will be attending the ceremony to officially open the Games, and he will be joined by many international dignitaries. But notably absent will be leaders of major democratic powers, as Great Britain, Australia and Canada are among those to join a US-led diplomatic boycott of these Games, citing Beijing's human-rights record.

This is the second Olympics to be held during the coronavirus pandemic. As with last year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo, a raft of Covid-19 countermeasures have been put in place and the Games will be held inside what authorities have called a «closed loop system» — a bubble completely cut off from the rest of the city. Tickets for the Games will not be sold to the general public; they will be distributed by authorities instead.

Dancers perform in the pre-show ahead of the opening ceremony.Michael Kappeler/Picture Alliance/Getty ImagesBing Dwen Dwen, one of the mascots of the Beijing Winter Games, is seen with performers before the opening ceremonyJewel Samad/AFP/Getty ImagesA man wears a face mask at the event. This is