Closing with a flourish

Chen Weiya, chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies

The closing ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games will feature eight distinct parts and each will have a theme like "Five Continents' celebrations", "City of Youth" and "Tomorrow", said Chen Weiya, chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies.

There will also be colorful lighting, quality projections and various kinds of fireworks, Chen said.

"More elements about Nanjing, the city that has made such a great effort to host a great Games, will also be shown during the closing ceremony."

The ancient city walls of Nanjing, which were constructed between 1366-1386, will open their gates in spectacular fashion.

"The seven letters in the word Nanjing will become seven stages that weigh three to seven metric tons each," said Zhang Dongxin, chief executive director of the closing ceremony. "The cute mascot of the YOG will certainly join us to say farewell. About 100 mascots will carry paintings of children."

The works of art, which express the children's wishes for the city, the YOG and the future, were drawn by youngsters from the host city.

Also, 500 volunteers that provided services during the YOG will sing for the audience.

According to Zhang, about 1,200 people will take part in the performance and staff at the closing ceremony will total 2,300, half of that at the opening ceremony.

Most of those 1,200 are from primary and middle schools and colleges in Nanjing, Zhang said, adding that some art ensembles from Nanjing and Beijing would also take part in the performance.

Performers from the Tagou Martial Arts School, who made an astonishing and spectacular acrobatic show at the opening ceremony, will show o* their skills at the closing ceremony.

But Zhang refused to release any other information, except that the number of performers would be reduced from 520 to 200.

"We can assure you that there are no overlaps between the two ceremonies."

Four kinds of tickets are available for the closing ceremony and they are selling at 500 yuan ($81), 1,000 yuan, 1,500 yuan and 2,800 yuan. Tickets can be bought on the YOG's official website or official Games' sales outlets.

"We have had a successful opening ceremony and we hope that the closing ceremony will also gain a high score," said Zhang.

cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn