By Chen Sijia

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Winter Olympic City Is Nearly Ready

By Chen Sijia

The ski slopes of Genting Resort Secret Garden in Chongli County， Zhangjiakou

When International Olympic Committee（IOC） President Thomas Bach announced in Kuala Lumpur， Malaysia on July 31， 2015， that Beijing had succeeded in its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics， China was booming with excitement. Beijing will join hands with Zhangjiakou of Hebei Province to host the Winter Olympics， set to make Zhangjiakou a city known to the whole world.

With advantageous ice and snow resources， Zhangjiakou was praised by Mr. Gerhard Heiberg， Chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission， as the “best competition venue capable of hosting the snow events of the Winter Olympics in China”. According to current plans， Beijing will host ice events， while Zhangjiakou will host the snow events.

Suitable Climate

Located more than 200 km northwest of Beijing， Zhangjiakou is divided into two natural areas： Bashang and Baxia. the former is flat and wide grassland at the southern edge of the Inner Mongolian Plateau. The latter is located at the transition zone sitting between the Inner Mongolia Plateau and the North China Plain， with complex landforms and undulating mountains. The total forest area of the city is 1.29 million hectares and the forest coverage rate is 34.9 percent. the snow events will be staged in Chongli District of Bashang.

Snow begins to fall in mid to late-October every year. Skiing is possible from early November to early April， for some 150 days. this is up to the evaluation criterion of the Winter Olympics that the snow coverage should be excellent for a period of over four months. the snowfall in Chongli is relatively even， with an annual average thickness of more than one meter. the drysnow period accounts for over two thirds of the total.

In case of unfavorable weather， the water diversion project of the Yunzhou Reservoir under construction has a capacity of 100 million cubic meters， which can completely ensure conditions for artificial snow as required by the IOC.

The temperature and wind speed here are suitable. The average winter temperature is minus 12 degrees Celsius，the average wind speed is rated a score of two， making wind speeds fairly average. The average snow depth in January and February is 57 cm， suitable for holding high-end international competitive skiing events. In addition， the mountains of Chongli range in altitude ranging from 814 to 2，174 meters. the mountain slope is moderate， mostly between 5 and 35 degrees.

Sound Ski Slopes

The logo of Beijing's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics at the Business District Square of Chongli County

A train winding through the mountains at the Juyongguan Pass of the Great Wall

Skiing in Chongli started in 1996. After over 10 years of development， four world-famous large-scale ski resorts（known as Wanlong， Genting， Duolemeidi and Changchengling） have been established， and the Thaiwoo Four-Season Ski Resort is under construction. In accordance with international competition standards，82 senior， medium and junior ski tracks totaling 69 km have been established in the district.

There are 24 cable cars and chairlifts，totaling 23 km. the total transport capacity is 40，000 people every hour. The ski resorts have been equipped with the world's leading high-speed cable cars. Four senior ski tracks have been certificated by the International Ski Federation （FIS）. All these ski resorts have a complete snow making system. It is planned to build 228 ski tracks totaling some 500 km and 84 cable cars totaling 99 km by 2020.

Since 2005， Chongli has handled over ten international skiing competitions including the FIS Alpine Skiing Points Race，F(xiàn)IS Far East Cup Ski Race and Salomon Cup International Ski Friendlies， accumulating rich management experience.

Supporting Facilities

Zhangjiakou has very convenient traffic conditions. A number of freeways and railways converge in the city. Beijing and Zhangjiakou are 220 km away from each other， connected by the Beijing-Tibet Freeway， Beijing-Urumqi Freeway and No 110 National Highway. A 4C-class airport in Zhangjiakou was formally opened to traffic in June 2014. Construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-speed Railway has started and will be completed before 2019. Ather its completion， the journey will take only 50 minutes. A three-dimensional transportation system has taken shape to link the two cities.

Winter tourism has boomed with the development of Zhangjiakou. The arrival of large numbers of tourists has not only directly stimulated consumption in the fields of accommodation， catering and transportation， but also created a number of emerging industries aimed at serving ski tourism， such as maintenance of ski equipment. An ice and snow sports park，restaurants， hotels， bars， golf and art park have been built at Bashang， and the idea of building a northern ice and snow creative base has already been put on the agenda.

The Female Farmer Kuagu Drum Team of Zhangjiakou beating the “Kuagu Drum of Wanghewan” to celebrate the Chinese lunar New Year on Dec 29， 2015

According to the field survey of expert group in Chongli， some existing facilities can be used directly for the Winter Olympics after upgrading，enough to meet the demand. So far， there have been 11 star-rated hotels， such as Genting， Rongchen， Monte Fontaine and Shuanglong， 20 restaurants that have achieved a high standard and more than 100 farmyard inns， which put together can accommodate more than 10，000 people at one time. In order to meet the needs of the construction of supporting facilities for holding the Winter

Olympics， spare land of 3.5 square km has been reserved in the overall plan for development. It is expected that there will be over 20 star-rated hotels in Chongli by 2020， meeting the daily accommodation capacity required by the standards set by the Olympics.

Grassland Tourism City

With an advantageous geographical location and rich and diverse topography， Zhangjiakou has beautiful and enchanting scenery on offer throughout the four seasons， providing good conditions for the Winter Olympics. The roads on the grassland， old residential houses and ski resorts reflect the perfect combination of the natural and cultural ecology of Zhangjiakou.

Now， Zhangjiakou is a city old yet young， traditional yet modern. The counties under the jurisdiction of Zhangjiakou have also developed diverse tourist projects， including the ice and snow paradises in Zhangbei and Kangbao counties and the ice stadium on Youth Lake in Guyuan County； hot springs in Huailai and Chicheng counties； and various Chinese lunar New Year activities in Yuxian County， such as Dashuhua （molten metal fireworks）， Shehuo of Yuzhou （a traditional folk celebration and carnival）， as well as dragon dancing， lantern competitions and a paper cutting sales exhibition in Yuzhou. All of these have attracted large numbers of tourists from various places.

The snow city of Zhangjiakou has opened its gates to the world！