No fireworks at Hangzhou Asian Games opening ceremony

To stage a green Asian Games in Hangzhou, the opening ceremony of the games, which will be staged on Sept 23, will feature no traditional fireworks performance.

"The opening ceremony of the Hangzhou Asian Games will break the tradition of having fireworks performance, as we are sticking to a green philosophy in hosting the event," said Sha Xiaolan, the general director of the games' opening ceremony, during a media interview on Sunday afternoon.

"As we want to reduce the carbon emissions as much as possible, so we have decided to cut the fireworks performances."

According to Sha, with no fireworks at the opening ceremony, a number of new technologies will be used to touch the audience with the theme of "people, beauty and emotions". The general director ensured the audiences would enjoy the great visual effects and touching atmosphere of the opening ceremony in front of their screens.

"The most important thing is that we want to spread our philosophy of environmental protection, and that's why we finally made the decision," Sha added.