While Chinese social media users have praised the smaller-than-expected Olympic flame unveiled at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, it was subject to plenty of ridicule outside the mainland by viewers who expected the usual giant cauldron. But famed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, the director behind the opening ceremony, told multiple Chinese media outlets the smaller flame had to defy Olympic traditions to reduce carbon emissions. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants the Beijing Games to be carbon-neutral, meaning the Olympics would not lead to a net addition of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, to the atmosphere. Zhang claimed in an interview with state-run news agency Xinhua the downsized cauldron had prompted a high-level IOC meeting to discuss the proposal, which the organisation declined to confirm. It also declined to say whether it was concerned Zhang’s idea deviated too far from Olympic traditions. Ladies and Gentlemen: The Olympic Flame #Beijing2022 #Olympics #olympicflame pic.twitter.com/a5b0JRODcK — joelwatts (@joelwatts) February 4, 2022 A giant snowflake, imprinted with the names of all 91 teams taking part, formed the cauldron on Friday night. Chinese Nordic combined skier Zhao Jiawen and cross-country skier Dinigeer Yilamujiang, who is ethnically Uygur, “lit” the cauldron by pushing the handheld-sized last torch into the centre of the snowflake, which was then raised mid-air. “Whether you like it or not, it’s sending a clear message: the cauldron is the world and lighting it is about being environmentally friendly and having low carbon emission,” Zhang told People’s Daily , the official Communist Party Central Committee newspaper. He also described the proposal as “daring and iconoclastic” in his Xinhua interview. The cauldron-lighting ritual came as a surprise to many, who expected a more dramatic ending to the ceremony with a larger flame as is tradition in past Summer and Winter Games. The opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Games that Zhang also directed saw Li Ning, a retired Chinese gymnast, hoisted to the top of the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium. He appeared to then run on air and light the towering cauldron in the shape of an ancient scroll. The Beijing 2022 organisers stood by Zhang’s idea, but the director said the IOC had hurled a number of questions at him and his creative team for their dramatic departure from Olympic tradition. “They asked us a lot of questions: ‘Are you sure? Is it like this? Is it like that?’,” Zhang told Beijing Youth Daily . “At the end, they came back to us and said ‘OK, as long as there is flame’. There couldn’t be no fire.” Zhang has been behind the creative direction of China’s Olympic journey since 2001, when he directed Beijing’s promotional film for the Chinese capital’s bid to host the 2008 Summer Games. He then directed China’s teaser portion at the closing ceremony at the 2004 Olympics at Athens, Greece. Before his work for the Olympics, he directed multiple films that was recognised at international film festivals, such as his directorial debut Red Sorghum and To Live . Zhang also proposed a flameless cauldron, according to a documentary on the opening ceremony produced by Beijing Radio and Television Station and Discovery Channel that aired on Friday. The last torch-bearers would light a flame beneath the floor that would burn and form the shape of a snowflake. The flame will then go out and become a lit spot at the centre of the stadium. The spot would then emit a laser beam to hit the Olympic Tower in Beijing, which would be reflected to Yanqing district, the competition zone in northwestern Beijing, and then to Zhangjiakou, where most of the skiing events are taking place. “This is to give everyone a new concept that is low carbon-emitting and environmentally friendly,” Zhang said in the documentary. The idea of a flameless cauldron did not make it to the opening ceremony. The ceremony opened with square dancing, a popular pastime for Chinese elderly. The 30-minute show featured dancers aged from five to more than 70 years old, in line with the China’s intent to put everyday citizens in the spotlight. Zhang’s team capitalised on the ceremony’s date – the beginning of spring on the traditional Chinese calendar. Performers held 10-metre-long tubes of neon green, swaying them back and forth to represent the return of the “spring wind”. “I rewatched many of the past Olympic opening ceremonies,” Zhang told People’s Daily . “It had always been a giant flame. It burned for more than 10 days. say you ran out of money for the olympic flame without saying you ran out of money for the olympic flame #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/LppIYW71Kb — ainsley p ✨🥋 (@itsainsley6) February 5, 2022 “I thought to myself, it was a symbol for the human and Olympic spirit, but is it not environmentally friendly enough or low-carbon-emitting enough?” Zhang appeared to be proud of the solution on Friday, saying he had created a classic Olympic moment with the cauldron. “If subsequent Olympic Games want to be green and want to make the flame small, you can use the Beijing Games as a reference.”