/PRZWT/On February 6th, the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics grandly opened. The Olympic Global Partner (TOP) - Mengniu Group once again joined hands with the director team of Zhang Yimou to officially release the opening theme TV commercial of this Winter Olympics, "Opening", inviting billions of viewers worldwide to experience the warm family atmosphere of the Chinese New Year on the world stage of ice and snow competitions, and jointly witness the two-way journey of "striving for strength" and "reunion".
From the vast grassland to the city of Milan: Crossing mountains and seas, we come together to fulfill the strong-willed promise.
This opening-themed film uses the icy land as the paper and ice sports as the blade to carve out Chinese paper-cutting. With paper-cutting as the main thread, in the cheerful music of the horse-head fiddle and throat singing, through the "determination" conveyed by Mengniu brand endorsers such as Gu Ailing, Jia Ling, Xiao Chang, and Yi Yangqianxi, it ingeniously connects a series of scenes including the grassland, the Great Wall, the leaning tower, and the competition venue, symbolizing Mengniu's journey of determination from grassland cattle, Chinese cattle to world cattle.
In 1999, Mengniu started from a humble house in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. At that time, it ranked only 1116th in the country. Thanks to its "born to be strong" corporate spirit, it has been striving and growing steadily, and now it has become one of the top ten preferred brands among Chinese consumers, and firmly ranks among the top ten in the global dairy industry.
Just as the line in the film states, "Where there is Chinese red, there is strength." The 27-year development journey of Mengniu is a vivid illustration of how Chinese national enterprises have forged ahead in the tide of China's economic development and continuously surpassed themselves in the process of globalization. The "must be strong" spirit has deeply permeated Mengniu's very core and is deeply ingrained in the genes of the Chinese people.
In 2019, when Mengniu's "Born Strong" met the Olympics' "Faster, Higher, Stronger - More United", their spirits were highly compatible and their concepts coincided. Mengniu entered into comprehensive cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and officially joined the Olympic Global Partner Program, becoming the first Olympic TOP partner from the dairy industry worldwide. Mengniu hopes to use this top sports stage of the Olympics to convey China's high-quality products and the concept of "Born Strong" to global consumers, and showcase the strength and charm of China's national brands to the world.
In 2024, the century-old Olympic Games will return to Paris. Mengniu not only stepped onto the Olympic stage to let the world witness the powerful strength of the Chinese brand, but also through the release of the "Yaoqiang" theme TVC, "China Night" and other deeply touching brand activities, it praised the strength of ordinary people and paid tribute to everyone who strives hard and never gives up in their ordinary lives.
In 2026, Mengniu "crossed thousands of mountains and seas to fulfill the Olympic invitation", the promotional video released on the occasion of the opening of the Milan Winter Olympics, once again showcased the charm and responsibility of Chinese brands to the world. Strong, like a shining spiritual symbol, it injected another touching echo of the East into the long history of the Olympics.
The "Double-Olympic Director" continues with a grand opening production: Eastern charm ignites the Milan Winter Olympics
It is known that this promotional film of Mengniu was directed by the team of Zhang Yimou himself. This is also the sister film of "The Opening" that the two parties jointly created at the Paris Olympics. Zhang Yimou was the chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and is known as the "Double-Olympic Director". The Olympic stories of the "Double-Olympic Director" have always been the epitome of Chinese stories.
The Milan Winter Olympics were held from February 6th to 22nd, precisely coinciding with the core period of the Chinese Spring Festival. At the same time, the Olympics symbolize peace and unity, and are in harmony with the reunion theme of the Chinese Spring Festival. The director team of Zhang Yimou keenly recognized this temporal and spatial connection. Through paper-cutting, an intangible cultural heritage, they integrated Chinese red, the horse head fiddle, and throat singing, among other Eastern elements, allowing the Chinese New Year atmosphere to passionately embrace the Olympics on the Apennine Peninsula.
It is worth noting that in the snowy context of the Winter Olympics, this film, using ethnic art and the imagery of reunion as its carriers, conveys Eastern aesthetics and national spirit. Meanwhile, Mengniu, leveraging this cultural force, showcases the veins of national spirit through the growth path of its brand, providing a more concrete carrier for the narrative of Eastern culture. The two sides complement each other, achieving mutual empowerment of culture and industry, allowing the world to not only experience the spirit of Chinese brands but also appreciate the unique charm of Chinese culture.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Mengniu's first "Opening" theme film was also filled with Eastern charm: In the flowing white screen like milk, through the projection of shadow puppetry, the strong sports figures emerged one after another, setting off from the grassland and drifting towards Paris, integrating the breakthroughs on the field with Mengniu's journey from the grassland to the world. In the melody of throat singing, the interpretation of the national spirit was completed.
It is worth noting that during the Paris Olympics, Mengniu not only promoted Chinese culture through an online theme film, but also held a series of culturally distinctive activities with Chinese characteristics offline. For instance, Mengniu held a national costume fashion show along the Seine River, using calligraphy with brushes and Mongolian dance performances to showcase the excellent traditional Chinese culture on the world stage; Mengniu also gathered Chinese Olympic forces to hold the "China Night" event in Paris. On the spot, French artists performed the horsehead fiddle, and Chinese artists sang French operas. Through counter-performance, it promoted international cultural exchanges and mutual learning.
When the Olympic flame is reignited once again, Mengniu's story of perseverance has also embarked on a new chapter. In the future, Mengniu will continue to carry forward the Olympic spirit, using culture as a bridge and perseverance as its core, and with a more open and confident attitude, it will step onto the world stage to "nourish the perseverance of everyone in the world".
