The torch-lighting ceremony for the 15th National Games, the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games was held on October 9 in Guangzhou's Nansha district. The source flame was created using flammable ice collected from the South China Sea at a depth of 1,522 meters, marking the first time that a source flame had been directly obtained from the ocean floor.

The torch-lighting ceremony [Photo/CCTV 5]

The flame bowl design [Photo/The organizing committee of the 15th National Games]

The torch design [Photo/The organizing committee of the 15th National Games]

At the ceremony, the eye-catching “Sacred Flame Bowl” standing in the center of the stage is the work of a creative squad led by Prof. Li Liquan from the School of Design and Innovation, Shenzhen Technology University (SZTU). As early as December 2024, Li’s team was entrusted with the visual core of the event—the torch, the flame bowl and the flame lamp—three inter-locking design tasks that would set the tone for the entire Games. During the following five-month sprint the squad generated more than 70 complete proposals and over 220 preliminary sketches, constantly refining, re-shuffling and re-imagining every curve, proportion and symbolic detail. Named “Ding-Sheng Tong-Xin” (literally “Prosperity and Unity”), the flame bowl was officially released on August 2, 2025. As an explicit homage to China’s Bronze-Age heritage, its silhouette borrows the dignified proportions of Shang and Zhou dynasty ritual cauldrons, while the rim is subtly incised with a pattern of concentric “ripples” that echo both the wave motif found on ancient bronzes and the modern idea of harmony radiating outward.

Drafted by Brian（郑斌）/ International Cooperation and Exchanges Department

Revised by Brian（郑斌）/ International Cooperation and Exchanges Department

Edited by Brian（郑斌）/ International Cooperation and Exchanges Department