On February 13, tourists played at the Nurga Ski Resort in Changji City, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang.
Photo by Tao Weiming (Image China).
On January 31, children learned to skate at the Qingcheng Park Public Ice Rink in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
Ding Genhou (Image China).
On December 16, 2023, in Inner Mongolia, exhibitors displayed snowboard scientific research projects at the first Hulunbuir Hailar Ice and Snow Products Winter Fair.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Kaiyan.
On February 20, the first Altay Youth Ski Competition in 2024 kicked off at the Xiyu Ski Resort in Altay City, Xinjiang.
Photo by Ardak Baishan (Image China).
On January 27, the first inter-school league for primary and secondary school students in Fushan District, Yantai City, Shandong Province was held. The picture shows the young players in the competition.
Photo by Sun Wentan (Image China).
On February 16, visitors experienced the charm of the ice and snow world in Sendi Ice and Snow Park in Nantong City, Jiangsu.
Photo by Xu Congjun (People's Vision).
On February 15, Harbin Ice and Snow World Park, Heilongjiang.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Jianwei.
Pieces of snowflakes gather in a moving picture, and a cluster of "micro-fires" ignite the light of hope. The successful hosting of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has provided the world with a simple, safe and wonderful Olympic event, which is deeply engraved in people's memory. In the past two years, looking at the land of China, ice and snow sports have spread their wings in the wind, ice and snow sports have become popular, the ice and snow economy has released stronger kinetic energy, and the ice and snow industry has been booming to move forward. The leapfrog development of China's ice and snow sports has opened a new chapter and injected vitality into the development of ice and snow sports in the world.
Juan Antonio Samaranch (IOC Vice-President, IOC Coordination Committee for the Beijing Winter Olympics).
John Eliasch (President of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation).
Luc Tadiff (President of the International Ice Hockey Federation).
Zhang Qian (Executive Vice President of Beijing People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and Former Director of the International Liaison Department of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee).
1] The Beijing Winter Olympics is an Olympic event that will go down in history. Sunny, prosperous, open and full of hope, China welcomes guests from all over the world with open arms and shares the glory of the Olympic Games with the world.
Juan Antonio Samaranch: I still have strong and vivid memories of those surprising and even incredible days in the spring of 2022. The competition venues of the Beijing Winter Olympics were all built in accordance with Olympic standards, the competition organization and event services showed the highest level, and the enthusiastic volunteers fully demonstrated the spiritual outlook of the Chinese people and dedicated a wonderful ice and snow event to the world.
Zhang Qian: The Beijing Winter Olympics adheres to the athlete-centered approach, adheres to the concept of "green, sharing, openness and integrity", achieves the complementarity of Chinese culture and ice and snow elements, overcomes difficulties and challenges such as the new crown epidemic, and achieves the goal of "simple, safe and exciting", making it the sports event with the longest broadcast time, the largest number of online viewers and the highest degree of digitalization in the history of the Winter Olympics.
The successful preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics benefited from the great attention of China and the full support of the Chinese people. At the same time, China has worked with stakeholders such as the International Olympic Committee, International Federations, National Olympic Committees, and sponsors, listened to the valuable opinions and suggestions of members of the Olympic family, learned from and absorbed the advanced experience and technology of the international Olympic Movement, and worked together to continuously improve the organization and international influence of the Winter Olympics, and jointly created a truly unparalleled Olympic event.
Luc Tadiff: The Beijing Winter Olympics is a sporting event held in a special context, which not only allows the world to experience the beauty of ice and snow sports again, but also strengthens our confidence in overcoming difficulties. Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone involved in the preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Beijing Winter Olympics not only made great contributions to the popularization and development of ice and snow sports in China, but also left a valuable Olympic legacy for the world.
John Eliasch: The Beijing Winter Olympics have been a huge catalyst for the development of ice and snow sports in Asia, making them more diverse, inclusive, competitive, approachable and attractive. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation is committed to the development and promotion of skiing and snowboarding worldwide. We are pleased to see that after the Beijing Winter Olympics, the "ice and snow fever" continues to spread in China and has made further progress.
2] By preparing for the Beijing Winter Olympics and promoting ice and snow sports, China has achieved a rapid improvement in the level of ice and snow sports and a significant expansion of the territory of ice and snow sports, making new contributions to the international Olympic cause.
Juan Antonio Samaranch: In addition to providing a platform for athletes to compete, the greater value of hosting the Olympic Games is to bring more tangible or intangible Olympic legacies that can benefit the public, the host city and country, and the Olympic Movement in the long term. The venues and facilities of the Beijing Winter Olympics will continue to be used in the coming years and decades, "bringing 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports" and promoting ice and snow sports and Winter Olympics culture into schools and the next generation, so that we can expect more and more Chinese young generations to grow up in the world of ice and snow sports.
The development and maturity of ice and snow sports in China is of great significance to the entire international sports community. After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the development of ice and snow sports in the world has been greatly accelerated, and the territory has been further expanded. The Beijing Winter Olympics has greatly improved the performance of the Chinese delegation and athletes in ice and snow sports, and has also attracted more and more Chinese people to participate in ice and snow sports.
Luc Tadiff: The Beijing Winter Olympics has created opportunities for the rapid progress and development of various ice and snow sports in China, and we deeply feel the enthusiasm and concern of the Chinese people for ice and snow sports, especially ice hockey, as well as the rapid improvement of China's ice hockey competition. In the 2023 IIHF Women's Ice Hockey World Championship Group A competition, the Chinese team won the championship with a gratifying record of five victories and advanced to the top group of the 2024 Women's Ice Hockey World Championship, and will appear on the highest stage of international ice hockey competition in April this year. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) is strengthening communication and exchanges with China's sports authorities and relevant institutions on how to systematically and strategically develop ice hockey and further promote the popularity of ice hockey in China by holding more world-class events in China.
John Eliasch: As a country with a population of more than 1.4 billion, China has great potential for the development of ice and snow sports. We are glad to see that China has taken the Beijing Winter Olympics as an opportunity to vigorously develop ice and snow sports and the ice and snow industry in recent years. We understand that 95% of Chinese skiers are under the age of 50, and most of them are between the ages of 20 and 30, and we believe that they will take ice and snow sports in China to a whole new level.
Zhang Qian: Getting more people involved in ice and snow sports is the essence of the Olympic Movement. From the successful bid for the 2015 Winter Olympics in Beijing to October 2021, the number of Chinese ice and snow sports participants reached 34.6 billion people, with a resident participation rate of 2456％。With the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the enthusiasm of the whole people to participate in ice and snow sports continues to rise, making ice and snow sports from a niche sport to a new fashion for the public. While people enjoy the fun brought by ice and snow sports, it also stimulates the development of China's ice and snow equipment, ice and snow tourism, sports research and other related industries.
3] Ice and snow are also mountains of gold and silver. The Beijing Winter Olympics has driven China's "cold" ice and snow to continue to release the "hot" effect, bringing valuable opportunities for the development and growth of the global ice and snow industry.
Juan Antonio Samaranch: The Beijing Winter Olympics will not only attract more people from Asian countries to participate in ice and snow sports that are good for their health, but also bring valuable opportunities for the development and growth of the global ice and snow industry, opening up a huge new market driven mainly by young people. This new market has greatly benefited ski resorts and hotels, and has also created a broad space for the development of industries such as ice and snow sports equipment.
I have visited Beijing, Zhangjiakou, the host of the Beijing Winter Olympics, as well as Changchun and Harbin in northeast China. I am amazed that China has successfully hosted the best Winter Olympics in history, and that it has also led to the development and growth of many regions, including many rural areas, through the "ice and snow fever" and ice and snow resources. Such stories fully prove that hosting the Olympic Games can not only bring glory for ten days, but also have a positive impact on the economic development of the host country for decades to come.
Zhang Qian: Under the influence of the Beijing Winter Olympics, China's ice and snow economy continues to heat up, and ice and snow sports and ice and snow tourism have become new growth points. According to the Research Report on the Development of China's Ice and Snow Industry (2023), the output value of China's ice and snow sports is expected to reach 890 billion yuan in 2023 and 1 trillion yuan in 2025, accounting for 1 5 percent of China's total sports output value. According to the "China Ice and Snow Tourism Development Report (2024)" released by the China Tourism Academy, the number of ice and snow leisure tourists in China is expected to exceed 400 million for the first time in the 2023-2024 ice and snow season, and the tourism revenue is expected to reach 550 billion yuan. By 2025, the number of ice and snow leisure tourists in China is expected to reach 5200 million people.
Luc Tadiff: The Beijing Winter Olympics is undoubtedly of great significance for promoting the development of the world's ice and snow industry, and has led the development trend in many fields, especially the installation of new refrigeration systems in many competition venues, the application of environmentally friendly refrigeration technology, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, the realization of carbon neutrality, and the achievement of more eco-friendly and sustainable development. Harbin will host the Asian Winter Games in 2025, which shows that China is ready for the development of ice and snow sports in the future.
John Eliasch: According to the data, in 2002 there were 130 ski resorts in China with a total annual tourist population of 2 million, and in 2019 the number of ski resorts in China has risen to 770 with a total annual tourist population of 20 million. With the ice and snow boom triggered by the Beijing Winter Olympics, relevant statistics are still ongoing**. At the end of last year, we hosted the 2023-2024 Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing Big Air World Cup at Shougang Big Air, followed by the FIS Freestyle Skiing Aerials World Cup in Changchun.
Interviewed by reporters Liu Zhonghua and Chen Shangwen, Jiang Xinyu also contributed to this article).