HAVING checked his helmet, goggles and gloves, ski enthusiast Wang Jian flew down the slope at Fulong Ski Resort in Chongli, a district of Beijing 2022 co-host city Zhangjiakou. It could hardly be seen from his smooth movements that Wang is already 72 years old.

“I picked up skiing out of curiosity when the country called for engaging 300 million people in winter sports, but I didn’t expect myself to become addicted,” said Wang, who has skied for five consecutive winters.

As a ski instructor at Fulong Ski Resort, Shi Wei found that Chinese people’s fervor for winter sports has been on the rise over recent years. “We used to host very few teenagers or the elderly, but now kids as young as 11 months and people in their 70s and 80s take part in winter sports here,” he said.

According to the country’s winter sports governing body, the number of Chinese people who have participated in winter sports training, amateur or professional competitions, and winter sports-related leisure activities has reached 346 million, surpassing the goal of 300 million set in 2015 when Beijing won the Olympic bid. That figure means one in four Chinese people has taken part in winter sports or related activities at least once.

Winter sports-related projects were launched on campuses. According to a plan jointly released in 2018 by China’s Ministry of Education and General Administration of Sport, over 2,000 primary or secondary schools had added winter sports to their curriculums by 2020. By 2025, the figure is expected to grow to 5,000.

Booming industry

The soaring demand from the public has fueled a boom in the construction of snow and ice facilities.

Data shows that China now has 654 standard ice rinks, an increase of 317 percent from 2015. The number of indoor and outdoor ski resorts reached 803, up from 568 ski resorts in 2015.

The boom in winter sports has also helped improve the livelihoods of thousands of people.

Zhang Erkui runs a restaurant named Hualangge in Hongping Town in the deep mountains of Shennongjia Forestry District in Hubei. For a long time since its opening in 1999, Zhang had rarely seen any tourists and customers in winter.

“Thanks to the construction of ski resorts in our town, more and more visitors come in winter and we can do business all year round,” said Zhang, who can earn over 40,000 yuan (US$6,300) during winter in recent years.

Since 2004, Shennongjia has received more than 3 million skiers, driving consumption of billions of yuan and increasing employment for local people, said Liu Qijun, deputy Party secretary of Shennongjia Forestry District.

In Chongli, once an impoverished county in Zhangjiakou with limited agricultural income, the change was even more stark. In 2015, 16.8 percent of the 100,000 residents in Chongli were classed as living below China’s national poverty line.

But this mountainous town, which will stage most of the snow events during Beijing 2022, has been transformed into a skier’s paradise. In 2019, the New York Times named Chongli as one of the 52 ski destinations worth visiting.

In May 2019, Chongli was officially lifted out of poverty. Nearly a quarter of Chongli’s population works in ski resorts or for related companies and organizations.

“The Games represent a formidable asset to accelerate long-term development. This is what has been done for Beijing 2022, and we’ve learned a lot,” said International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi.

Far-reaching influence

According to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Chinese people made 254 million winter sports-related trips last year. The upcoming Winter Games are expected to further boost winter sports with an estimated 305 million trips by the Chinese people during the current winter season.

According to Li Sen, the director of the General Planning Department of 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG), Beijing 2022 will use six competition venues built for the 2008 Olympics. Meanwhile, all newly built venues have fully considered post-Games utilization at the planning stage.

“After the Games, the venues will actively bid for and hold high-level sports events. The venues will also be operated in all seasons and be fully open to the public,” said Li.

Besides the venues, experts believe that Beijing 2022 will have far-reaching influence on the ice and snow industry as well as the country.

(Xinhua)