The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asiad, is a sporting event that takes place in Guangzhou, China, from 12 to 27 November 2010. Guangzhou is the second Chinese city to host the Games, after Beijing in 1990. A total of 476 events in 42 sports will be contested by athletes, making it the largest event in the history of the Games. It will also be the last iteration of the Games to have featured such big events, as the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have enforced new hosting rules for future games, beginning with the 2014 Games.Guangzhou was awarded the right to host the Games on July 1, 2004, as the sole bidding city. This came after the withdrawal of several cities, Amman, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. The games will also be co-hosted by Dongguan, Foshan and Shanwei, the three neighbouring cities.
Venues
There are 53 competition venues and 17 training venues available for the Games, with four venues held outside the Guangdong province. These include the Asian Games Town, which consists of the Athletes' Village, Technical Officials' Village, Media Village, Main Media Center and International Broadcast Center. Organisers revealed that the total investment is over ￥15 billion.
On April 19, 2009, organisers chose Haixinsha Island, along with the Pearl River, as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies, the only venue which not serve as purpose for competition.
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on November 12, 2010 at 20:04 local time. For the first time in history, the ceremony was not held inside the stadium; instead, it was held along the Pearl River on Haixinsha Island. Prior to the ceremony, Chen Weiya, its director, who also the assistant director of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, claimed in a special interview that the ceremony "will surprise the world". The ceremony was attended by the Premier of the People's Republic of China, Wen Jiabao, President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong Henry Tang.
According to pre-release statement, some 7,000 people were planned to contribute to the ceremony, with the team parade to be held at 21:00 local time, while a "mysterious" lightning ceremony was to be held at 21:42 local time. Two themes were used for the ceremony: at the sea and land. Some performers participated in the ceremony, including Korean singer Kim Hyun Joong, who sang the song"Sunshine Again", and Mongolian band "Borte".
