Closing ceremony bids farewell to 18th Asian Games

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The 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia's Jakarta and Palembang came to an end with the closing ceremony at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium on Sunday. Meanwhile, it is also the beginning of the next Asian Games in 2022 in Hangzhou, capital city of eastern China's Zhejiang Province.

The ceremony began with rainfall and showcased the themes of "celebration" and "thanks". The military band finished their performance by forming the name of "Indonesia" before flag bearers of the attending teams met the audience in alphabetical order.

Chinese athletes join the closing ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games. /VCG Photo

Following the flag bearers, athlete representatives of all teams entered the stadium in a friendly, happy atmosphere. After over two weeks of competition, they were back in Jakarta to say goodbye to the 18th Asian Games.

After the athletes, volunteers joined the party, receiving thanks for their efforts during the event from the audience. Again, let's remember, there are some 13,000 volunteers at the Asian Games.

Ancient Chinese style dancing brought by delegations of Hangzhou, host city of the 2022 Asian Games /VCG Photo

After the torch, flag of the Asian Games and the flag of Olympic Council of Asia were transferred from Jakarta to Hangzhou, the next host city of the event, delegations of the 2022 Asian Games from China came to the stage with their demonstration of Hangzhou.

Starting with a three-minute video to briefly introduce the city, Hangzhou listed four words for the 2022 Asian Games: green, smart, thrifty and civilized. Dancers started their elegant performances in front of multiple screens on which an ancient Chinese painting was gradually being made up.

As the demonstration comes to an end, Asian Games offcially enters "Hangzhou time". /VCG Photo

As the ancient Chinese style performance came to an end, modern dancers took over when swimming gold-winner Sun Yang, singer Jackson Yee and co-founder of Alibaba Jack Ma stepped onto the stage with more vigorous dancing. In the end, the logo of the 2022 Asian Games appeared on the screen behind, announcing the beginning of Hangzhou's time.

(Top picture: The closing ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. /VCG Photo)