The opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics began on Friday, with the Chinese capital becoming the first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics.

President Xi Jinping will be joined by more than 20 international leaders, including his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, to officially start the Games. 

The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia are among the countries boycotting the Olympics due to allegations about China's human rights record, which China responded to by stressing that "the Winter Olympics are not a stage for political shows and political manipulation," he added, accusing the US of "actions that interfere in and undermine the Beijing Winter Olympics."

Their athletes will still compete at the Games, which run until February 20 and are taking place inside a vast "closed-loop" designed to thwart the virus.

Some people will attend the opening ceremony at the 90,000-seat "Bird's Nest," but the exact number is unknown, and tickets were not offered to the general public because of the epidemic, as they were for sports events at the Games.

The event is the brainchild of Zhang Yimou, the famed Chinese film director who directed the 2008 Olympic spectacle.

Zhang has promised a "completely unique" ceremony but has admitted that the epidemic and cold weather will limit its grandeur in comparison to the Summer Games, which featured 15,000 performers in a grandiose gala with opera singers, acrobats, and drummers.

This year's event will feature some 3,000 artists, with topics such as "environmental protection and minimal carbon emission."

'In our hearts' 

Unlike the huge celebrations and outpouring of national pride that greeted the 2008 opening ceremony, enthusiasm for these Games has been noticeably soberer this time among the locals.

Covid restrictions mean that most will watch the show from home. However, some will be there in person were told to wear a mask at all times and sit several seats apart.

Speaking on the streets of the capital, Yin Rui, 31, said she was eager to get settled in front of her television.

"Even if they are at home people will cheer for the Olympics," she told AFP, adding that "enthusiasm in everyone's hearts remain" for the Games -- even though they will take place behind high fences and with the public mostly shut out.