On the evening of September 19, local time, the opening ceremony of the 20th Asian Games was held at the Mizuho Park Track and Field Stadium in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. When the last torch handover was completed, the heart-shaped main torch tower was lit, and the audience burst into warm applause.
Behind the light and shadow, from the opening ceremony stage to event clothing and competition equipment, there are many places embodying technology and ingenuity from China. On and off the field, multiple Chinese brand teams served this Asian sports event with solid engineering capabilities and leading design concepts, demonstrating the innovative vitality of China's industry.
Main torch tower——
"An important appearance of Chinese creativity on the international stage"
At the opening ceremony, after the main torch tower was lit up, the stage performances unfolded in sequence.
The stage engineering, main torch tower development, digital content and on-site implementation of this large-scale ceremony were all implemented by the project team of Zhejiang Dafeng Industrial in China. The team provides complete solutions for the opening and closing ceremonies of this Asian Games, covering planning and creativity, director and production, digital content, main torch tower design and production, performances, cultural programs, operations management, etc. The entire system is built based on Chinese technology to ensure the smooth operation of the core ceremony of the opening ceremony.
"From the finalization of cooperation to the opening ceremony, the entire project went through more than 500 days and nights. After we reached a cooperation intention with the organizing committee in April 2025, we immediately integrated multiple business lines such as R&D and engineering to form a special project team, and simultaneously promoted program iterations, equipment research and development, as well as cross-border approvals, local standards docking and other complex work." said Zhu Xian, executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies of this Asian Games and artistic director of Dafeng Digital Entertainment.
Nagoya is near the sea, so typhoons and rainfall are the biggest challenges for the project. The main torch tower and the entire stage system installed in the open air must withstand the test of changing weather. Local regulations have set extremely stringent acceptance standards for earthquake resistance, wind resistance, waterproofing, and safety redundancy of large outdoor structures. "The difficulty of this project is not the superior performance of a single piece of equipment, but the integrated scheduling of dozens of subsystems. Even millisecond deviations in any link such as lighting, stage machinery, projection, and sound reinforcement may affect the entire ceremony process." said Xu Huiwen, technical director of the opening and closing ceremonies of this Asian Games and technical director of Dafeng Stage Design Institute.
The project uses a collaborative model between the two places to solve multiple problems. The Hangzhou team is responsible for program refinement and digital content research and development, using digital twin technology to simulate the local wind field and light and shadow effects of the main torch tower, predicting the risk of typhoon rain in advance, and completing collaborative verification of the stage design subsystem and cloud-based cross-border review. The Yuyao Intelligent Manufacturing Base in Ningbo, Zhejiang is responsible for equipment manufacturing tasks. The entire main torch tower was produced here. After multiple rounds of pressure and extreme working conditions tests, it was packed and shipped to sea in August 2026. A large amount of debugging and testing work is done domestically, which greatly reduces the pressure on overseas on-site construction.
The main torch tower of this Asian Games adopts a heart-shaped shape, which symbolizes heartbeat and friendship. The streamlined curved surface and metallic texture echo the industrial temperament of the host city. The ignition session of the opening ceremony adopts the self-developed "water-based fire" light and shadow technology: after the handover of the real fire is completed, water mist and lights are used to present the flame effect, without the need to continue burning traditional fuel. Compared with traditional live fire solutions, the event cycle is expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 200 tons, practicing the concept of green events.
"When the giant frame box carrying the main torch tower was hoisted onto the ship, everyone knew that what was shipped was not just a set of large equipment, but also an important appearance of Chinese creativity on the international stage." Zhu Xian said.
This is not the first time this team has served in an international comprehensive event. Dafeng Industrial's technical solutions have previously been used in large-scale events such as the Jakarta Asian Games, Beijing Winter Olympics, and Hangzhou Asian Games, and participated in stage support for the G20 Hangzhou Summit, accumulating experience in the full-chain implementation of large-scale transnational projects. Participating in this Asian Games has realized the transformation from the pure output of hardware equipment to the integrated output of creativity, design and solutions. Currently, the company is continuing to explore the simultaneous overseas expansion of equipment, creativity, and standards, and related technologies and services have been implemented in more than 100 countries and regions around the world.
Competition clothing——
"The language of action, the interface of culture, the link of communication"
On the sidelines of the Asian Games, volunteer Makino, dressed in forest green overalls, guided the flow of people back and forth between the auditoriums. Even after standing and walking for hours on end, her clothes were still dry and comfortable. "It is extremely light and breathable, and has a very good wicking and quick-drying effect. I can work continuously for several hours a day and move freely without feeling stuffy or restricted," Makino said.
This touch of "forest green" comes from the Chinese sports brand 361°. As the official partner of this Asian Games, 361° provides a full set of official sportswear for torchbearers, runners, volunteers, and technical officials.
The design of event apparel contains oriental aesthetics. The design team adheres to the concept of "seeing movement in silence" and takes into account both recognition and simplicity: volunteers wear "forest green" to symbolize vitality and service spirit; staff choose deep indigo to carry oriental aesthetic connotations; technical officials' clothing is matched with metallic gray and silver to convey a sense of technology.
Competition clothing, in addition to being beautiful, must also be suitable for high-intensity on-site work. The fabric is made of ultra-lightweight and quick-drying material, and its performance is stable after repeated washing; the tailoring has been repeatedly measured based on ergonomics and movement trajectories to ensure lightness and freedom of movement for a long time in high temperature environments. According to Zheng Yexin, general manager of the 361° Brand Management Center, event apparel is not only an external reflection of the staff's spiritual outlook, but also "the language of action, the interface of culture, and the link of communication."
The design ingenuity also extends to multiple delegations: the Cambodian delegation’s costumes are based on the architectural outline of Angkor Wat, and the Mongolian delegation’s costumes are integrated into the grassland imagery. For this Asian Games, 361° customized exclusive clothing for delegations from six countries and regions, and also provided competition and training equipment for the refugee delegation of the Olympic Council of Asia.
This is the fifth consecutive year that 361° has served the Asian Games, providing a total of more than 5.4 million pieces of various types of clothing. "The long-term and stable cooperation with the Asian Games has engraved a profound professional sports gene on us and continues to enhance the awareness and influence of Chinese sports design in the Asian and global sports markets." Zheng Yexin said.
With the help of the Asian Games platform, Chinese sports brands are accelerating their overseas expansion. During the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, 361° relied on the event to launch offline stores in Indonesia; in April this year, the Nagoya store opened, displaying professional products such as running, basketball, and comprehensive training. Makino said: "Putting on this volunteer uniform, I remembered this design from China and wanted to go to the store to see more products."
Pieces of Chinese-designed sportswear have become cultural carriers, telling stories of love and communication in Asian competitions.
Equipment guarantee——
"Be a brand builder and a standard promoter"
In the Asian Games gymnastics hall, the Taishan Sports Security Team is leaning over to carefully inspect the equipment.
Half a month before the opening, this technical team from China arrived in Japan in batches and started the equipment construction work of the competition hall, warm-up hall, and training hall simultaneously. Chief Engineer Wang Wei squatted beside the high gymnastics platform and checked every detail with the staff: "No gaps are allowed on the high platform. The table tops are connected by a mortise and tenon structure, and special tooling must be used to assemble it. The 8 to 10 support columns under the vault track are calibrated one by one, and the installation points of the horizontal bar, balance beam, and pommel horse are all marked."
Athletes and coaches are familiar with technical movements, but they may not be familiar with the structure of competition equipment. The guarantee team will be stationed at the venue throughout the entire process. Once an abnormality in the equipment is discovered, the coaches will be reminded through the organizing committee as soon as possible to maintain the bottom line of event safety. "All work details must strictly follow the standard operating procedures. On the day of the game, there will be another round of comprehensive inspection one hour before the game. This is an iron rule." Wang Wei said.
The pace of the competition is tense, and every second counts when changing equipment. As soon as the men's gymnastics awards were over, the staff immediately removed the mats, removed the horizontal bars, and quickly replaced the balance beams and uneven bars for the women's events. Installation, debugging, inspection and acceptance are completed in one go. They are often busy until late at night and have to re-examine early the next morning. "We dare to put the equipment into the hands of athletes and coaches without missing a piece or loosening a button," Wang Wei said.
The equipment for this gymnastics event uses second-generation metal structure and third-generation carbon fiber composite materials. "Carbon fiber has excellent shock-absorbing performance and provides athletes with stronger stability when gripping, standing, and tossing. The safety margin of the rings is designed according to the standard of 10,000 niu or above, and data support is reserved for subsequent iterations of equipment." Wang Wei introduced.
In addition to gymnastics, Taishan Sports also provides a full set of competition equipment and one-stop event guarantee for 16 competition events such as martial arts, wrestling, and cycling in this Asian Games. Technical personnel are stationed on the front line of the competition venue, continuously carrying out equipment calibration, inspections and dynamic operation and maintenance, and relying on standardized and refined services to ensure the smooth operation of the event.
Since the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, Taishan Sports has guaranteed the Asian Games and maintained a record of “zero mistakes, zero failures, and zero complaints”. Wang Wei said: "From products to services to standards; from the competitive arena to the mass market. We always take the attitude of a climber and move to higher places. We must not only be a participant in the event, but also a brand shaper and a promoter of standards, so that Chinese sports brands can shine more dazzlingly on the world stage."
(Our newspaper, Tokyo and Nagoya, September 28, reporters Liu Wenzhang, Gao Ji, Dou Hanyang, Li Shuo, Fan Jiayuan)
