Winter Olympics 2022 opening ceremony is underway in Beijing

All eyes were on the Winter Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing as the parade of athletes started.

The locked-down Winter Olympics began in spectacular fashion at the same lattice-encased National Stadium which famously hosted the inaugural event at the 2008 Olympics.

The venue is famously known as the Bird's Nest because of its design, the web of steel resembling the way branches would be turned into a nest.

It started shortly after the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

There are representatives from 91 nations taking part.

As always at an Olympics, Greece is the first nation to enter the stadium.

From there, it is in alphabetical order but by the language of the host country.

Greece will be followed by Turkey, Malta, Madagascar, Malaysia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Jamaica, Belgium and then Japan.

The US is 56th in the order.

The team of Russian athletes will mark the official midpoint of the parade.

Tradition reveals the two last teams in the parade - Italy, who will host the next Winter Games in 2026, and then China will close the parade.

Beijing made history as it became the first city to host both winter and summer Games.

Fourteen years ago, a Beijing opening ceremony featured massive pyrotechnic displays and thousands of card-flipping performers set a new standard of extravagance to start an Olympics that no host since has matched.

The Olympics - and the opening ceremony - have always been a form of performance and a chance for the host country to showcase its culture.

Many world leaders planned to attend the opening ceremony, despite some staying away amid the Covid pandemic.

The Covid pandemic hangs over this year’s Games as it did last summer in