当都灵冬奥会双人滑银牌得主张丹、张昊点燃导火索后，“火箭”齐发，熊熊燃烧的雪球被滑来的冰壶推向主火炬塔，第24届世界大学生冬季运动会的圣火随即点燃。本届大冬会18日晚在北国“冰城”黑龙江哈尔滨市隆重开幕，这是中国首次举办世界综合性冬季运动会。

　　Chinese state councilor Liu Yandong declared the 2009 World Winter University Games open on Wednesday evening, reeling off the biennial event here in China's northeastern Ice City.

　　It's the first time that China staged such a world-class winter games, a grand one only second to Winter Olympic Games, and also the third time in Asia after Sapporo of Japan in 1991 and Chonju of South Korea in 1997.

　　The 11-day Harbin Universiade to run through Feb. 28, the 24th edition of the Games since 1960, offers a record number of gold medals for 81 events in 12 sports, 16 of which have never been competed in China.

　　The Universiade also makes another record of 44 participating countries and regions across the world, featuring some 2,500 people, including more than 1,600 athletes.

　　For the games, all events on the ice will be staged in Harbin, a joint host city of China's first National Winter Games six decades ago, while skiing events will be co-hosted by Yabuli and Maoershan, less than 200kms away.

　　Hoping to better its record of six golds achieved in the 21st Universiade, China sent the biggest 359-man delegation, including 193 athletes for 69 events for all the 12 sports.

　　The pairs figure skaters Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao became the best choice to ignite the cauldron when they reaped the historical Olympic silver medal for China in Turin following a bad fall in executing a quadruple jump.

　　They targeted at a sculpture in a shape of number 24 with the torch, jetted out 24 flaring arrows to light a "snow ball" in front, before a curling skip pushed the rock to gear up the ball to set the flame to the cauldron.