On the evening of February 17, magnificent fireworks lit up the night sky of Hailar District, Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and a simple but rich opening ceremony announced the official opening of the 14th National Winter Games (hereinafter referred to as the "14th Winter"). Due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the "14th Winter", which was originally scheduled to open in early 2020, has been postponed for 4 years. If you count the bidding time, the entire bidding and preparation time of the "14th Winter" is more than 10 years. After 10 years of waiting, the "14th Winter", which was supposed to be held before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, finally fell two years after the closing of the Beijing Winter Olympics. At this time, the ice and snow atmosphere in China has already undergone earth-shaking changes.
This year's Winter Games set a number of firsts.
The "14th Winter" is the first time that a large-scale comprehensive sports event has been held in Inner Mongolia, and it is also the second time that the National Winter Games have been held outside Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces after the "13th Winter" was held in Xinjiang in 2016. In addition, the "14th Winter" is the first large-scale comprehensive winter sports event held in China after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and it is also the first national winter games to set up mass competitions. However, among all the expressions such as "first" and "first", the most historic significance of the "14th Winter" is that for the first time, it has realized the participation of delegations from provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, attracting a total of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, as well as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region, plus the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the China Petroleum Industry Sports Association, etc., a total of 35 delegations participated in the competition.
Zhu Chengyi, former deputy director of the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China, said excitedly to the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network, "China's winter sports can be said to have truly entered a new stage of development, and it can be said that the Winter Games and the Summer National Games have truly achieved two troikas going hand in hand." In the first 13 Winter Games, the number of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities where we carried out ice and snow sports, the number of ice and snow sports events, and the number of participants could not be compared with the Summer National Games. Therefore, for a long period of time before the '14th Winter', the group units of the Winter Games were mainly prefecture-level cities, and mainly from the prefecture-level cities of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, and there were not many competitions and the number of people was not large, and its influence, driving force and development force were far less than the Summer National Games. Moreover, the situation of emphasizing summer over winter in various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities has existed for a long time. For the first time, the Winter Games were organized by provincial-level administrative units, opening a new stage of comprehensive development of winter sports in the country. ”
In the "14th Winter", more than a dozen provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) such as Hubei, Hunan, Yunnan, Fujian, and Guangdong have teams participating in the National Winter Games for the first time. In contrast to this, it is the "300 million people participating in ice and snow sports" that has become a reality, and ice and snow sports have become popular sports in both the north and south of China.
Zou Xinxian, chief expert and professor of the Winter Olympics Culture and Ice and Snow Sports Development Research Base of Beijing Sport University, believes that "the legacy of the Beijing Winter Olympics is deeply affecting China. First, the realization of the grand goal of '300 million people participating in ice and snow sports' has not only greatly driven the enthusiasm of the public and young people across the country to participate in ice and snow sports, opened a new era of global ice and snow sports, but also greatly promoted the substantial improvement of China's ice and snow sports competition level. Second, the successful holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics has not only promoted the balanced development of ice and snow sports, but also promoted the targeted development of suitable ice and snow sports in different regions, including encouraging the three northeastern provinces to carry out more ice and snow sports, accelerating the development of ice and snow sports in North China and Northwest China, and mobilizing other qualified regions to carry out suitable ice and snow sports. At the same time, it emphasizes strengthening regional cooperation and resource sharing, and promoting the cross-regional development of ice and snow sports. ”
When ice and snow sports become a four-season, all-regional, and national sport, when the ice and snow sports in various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China are carried out, it has become an inevitable demand to form teams to participate in the National Winter Games.
Wang Fei, Dean of the School of Sports, Humanities and Social Sciences of Harbin Institute of Physical Education, believes that "both ice and snow sports and ice and snow economic development urgently need a 'window of events'. "By October 2021, there were 34.6 billion people have participated in snow and ice sports. From the perspective of the development of ice and snow sports, the foundation has been established. In the post-Winter Olympics era, we will continue to consolidate the achievements of 'bringing 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports'. How to consolidate? The 'window of events' is crucial. Through the National Winter Games, people become more familiar with ice and snow sports events, and then become interested and promote people to experience them firsthand. This process is a clear path for people to participate in snow sports, but it needs to be guided and opportunities created. Therefore, ice and snow sports events are crucial. ”
Therefore, when the enthusiasm of the Chinese people for ice and snow continues to rise, the National Winter Games will not only play the original competitive sports value, but also become a vital part of the sustainable development of the national ice and snow economy.
On February 19, the women's double moguls final of the freestyle skiing open group of the 14th National Winter Games was held in Jinlongshan Ski Resort in Zhalantun, Inner Mongolia. Yang Ya from the Heilongjiang team won the gold medal. The picture shows Yang Ya (right) in the game. (*From China News Service).
The comprehensive benefits of ice and snow events are highlighted.
Since this winter, the ice and snow economic fever represented by Harbin's hot out of the circle also means that when the passion for ice and snow has been ignited by the whole people, domestic top ice and snow events such as the National Winter Games should also play more comprehensive benefits.
At the press conference of the Winter Games held on February 16, Sun Wei, deputy mayor of Hulunbuir City, introduced that Hulunbuir City took the opportunity of hosting the "14th Winter", relying on the advantages of ice and snow ecology and diverse folk culture, playing characteristic cards and taking a differentiated path.
According to reports, the domestic ice and snow fever since this winter has also appeared in Hulunbuir. Sun Wei introduced that from November 2023 to January 2024, the number of tourists and tourism revenue in Hulunbuir were 2 of the same period last year2x and 27 times. Six days before the Spring Festival holiday in 2024, Hulunbuir received 131 tourists290,000 person-times, tourism income 90.9 billion yuan, which was 9 percent of the same period last year2x and 11x. From the perspective of Inner Mongolia, 6 days before the Spring Festival holiday, the whole region received 2486 tourists120,000 person-times, tourism income 1770.3 billion yuan, which was 615 times and 825 times.
After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the development of the ice and snow economy ushered in new opportunities and reached a critical growth period. Wang Fei said, "It should be clear that the development of the ice and snow economy is based on ice and snow sports, and ice and snow sports need to show their charm in the form of events. The 14th Winter is a cultural platform for the development of the ice and snow economy, and under the role of the 14th Winter, people can learn about the characteristics and rules of ice and snow sports and feel its charm through various ice and snow sports competitions. This is the process of disseminating and promoting ice and snow sports culture, and it is also the process of making more people like ice and snow sports. Under the guidance of such a culture, people will be willing to participate in ice and snow sports, thus forming more ice and snow consumption. Ice and snow sports events have always been an important platform for the dissemination of sports culture and ice and snow spirit, and the development of the ice and snow economy needs such a platform. ”
When cold ice and snow have become a hot economy, how can sports events play a catalytic effect? Zou Xinxian believes that the Beijing Winter Olympics is actually a good reference case, "The Beijing Winter Olympics has created a typical example of mutual promotion and mutual achievement between the Olympic movement and the urban economy with 'faster environmental transformation process, higher quality development level, and stronger public participation'." To this end, it is suggested that: first, in the process of holding the event, we should pay attention to the construction of competition facilities and supporting facilities as an opportunity to realize the transformation and upgrading of urban transportation, barrier-free facilities, environmental facilities, event services and many other supporting infrastructure on the basis of meeting the needs of the event; The second is to realize the integrated development of ice and snow sports, ice and snow tourism, ice and snow culture and other forms through the preparation of events, so that they can play a role in the renewal and upgrading of the urban economy. For example, under the influence of the 'Double Olympic City', Shougang Park has completely realized the successful transformation from traditional manufacturing to service industry, and its new functional appearance has become an important symbol of Beijing's urban renewal. ”
The "13th Winter" in 2016 was held in Xinjiang, which greatly enhanced the popularity of Xinjiang's ice and snow resources and helped Xinjiang become a popular destination for ice and snow sports and ice and snow tourism in China. So, can "Fourteen Winters" replicate such success?
Wang Fei believes that Inner Mongolia is a province with very prominent regional characteristics, and its ethnic culture and regional culture are very representative. Inner Mongolia's ice and snow tourism and ice and snow economic development must be closely linked with the characteristics of the region, and should be different from Heilongjiang, Jilin, Xinjiang and Hebei Chongli and other regions, to be differentiated development, she suggested, "Inner Mongolia's ice and snow sports should be organically integrated into the characteristic culture of Inner Mongolia, including food culture, residential culture and ethnic songs and dances." It is necessary to realize that the ice and snow economy is a new economic format, and the products provided are new service products, which have strong integration. In addition, in the design of some ice and snow sports and tourism products, it is necessary to combine the overall strength of the autonomous region, echo multiple cities, and unify the layout. ”
Hold a good meeting, improve a city.
"14th Winter" is the first time that Inner Mongolia has hosted a large-scale national sports event, and the preparation time has been as long as 8 years since the successful bid. For Inner Mongolia, there is also the expectation of "holding a good meeting and improving a city". In fact, whether it is Chengdu, which hosted the World Universiade last year, Hangzhou, which hosted the Asian Games, Guangxi, which hosted the first Youth Games, or Inner Mongolia, which is the host of the "14th Winter", and Harbin, which will host the Asian Winter Games next year, it is an inevitable demand to obtain multiple values through large-scale sports events.
In this regard, the core concept of the Beijing Winter Olympics as a successful model is to "integrate the Winter Olympics into the long-term development of cities and regions" and "achieve a higher level of regional development". Zou Xinxian said, "The Beijing Winter Olympics not only led to the improvement of regional environmental quality, but also greatly promoted the development of the city's economy. In the process of preparation, a series of measures such as continuously building and improving urban infrastructure, promoting the development of the ice and snow industry, driving the construction of sports and cultural tourism belts, and promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries have all given new momentum to regional economic development and are quietly building a new situation of coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. ”
Wang Fei suggested that the host city should work the "three forces": including actively enhancing the appeal of ice and snow sports culture. Because the attraction and effect of culture will be very long-lasting, whether it is ice and snow sports or economic development, the charm of ice and snow sports culture must be enhanced. Vigorously improve the service ability of "promising". Because "promising" is very important to the holding of the event. An event needs to be effectively guided, planned, and guaranteed by public services and events, but the fundamental starting point is service. Quickly establish the guarantee capacity of ice and snow event talents. Large-scale sports events, especially ice and snow sports events, are held with high standards and strong professionalism, and there is a shortage of professional talents. At present, the vast majority of regions in the country are facing a blank situation in the holding of large-scale ice and snow sports events and a shortage of talents for professional ice and snow sports events. Advance layout, advance training, and good drills are all important measures. At the same time, through the holding of large-scale ice and snow sports events, it is also necessary to actively expand the training of all kinds of ice and snow sports talents, and reserve good professionals for the national ice and snow sports and the development of the ice and snow economy.
The curtain of "Fourteen Winters" has been opened, because the audience is full of people, and the short track speed skating competition of "Fourteen Winters" has become the first high-demand event in the history of the National Winter Games. When the cold of ice and snow sports is only reflected in the temperature of the competition venue, the "hot and hot era" of China's ice and snow and Winter Games may have arrived. (ENDS).
Reporter Ci Xin.