The ninth Asian Winter Games are set to open Friday in the Chinese city of Harbin.

The winter sports festival, which is expected to bring together four-point-seven billion people across Asia, is the first of its kind since the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.

The opening ceremony will start at 9 p.m., Korean Standard Time, at the Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center.

South Korean ice hockey player Lee Chong-min and curling team member Gim Eun-ji will be the country’s co-flag bearers.

Some one-thousand-300 athletes representing a record 34 countries are expected to compete for 64 gold medals in eleven events at the Harbin Games, set to run through February 14.

Team Korea, which ranked second with 16 gold, 18 silver and 16 bronze medals in 2017, is hoping to reclaim the second-place title with a total of eleven gold medals in short track speed skating, speed skating, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and curling.