Curlers compete in a national contest in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on April 20 (XINHUA)

With winter sport popularity on the rise, China anticipates a Winter Olympics at home

After a two-year long bidding journey, Beijing hopes to be named the host city of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games at the 128th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31.

Beijing formally announced its bid in November 2013 and then was selected as one of the three candidate cities by the IOC's Executive Board in July 2014. Later that year, Oslo, Norway's capital, withdrew its candidacy, leaving only Kazakhstan's Almaty and Beijing in the bidding race.

Beijing, along with its co-bidding city Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei Province, has every advantage for the bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, said Zhu Chengyi, former Vice Director of the Winter Sports Management Center of China's State General Administration of Sports (SGAS).

"The rapid economic development, political stability and the popularity of winter sports in China will ensure a successful Olympics," Zhu told Beijing Review, adding that the holding of a Winter Olympics will further promote the development of winter sports in China.

"This means that fervor will be formed around winter sports, helping transform popular sports such as skiing, snowboarding and ice hockey into full-fledged national pastimes and making the country a winter sports power by involving more young people," Zhu said.

Ready to go

On June 9, the Beijing Winter Olympics bidding team presented its bidding project to the IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Wang Anshun, Mayor of Beijing and President of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games Bid Committee, told the IOC members that Beijing would be the safest option to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

"It would be the safest decision for the IOC to choose Beijing, which is the most reliable partner for all stakeholders," Wang said.

Illustrating the legacy of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Wang said that the city of Beijing has fully embraced the Olympic spirit and experiences it every day.

According to Zhu, out of the 12 venues for competition and training required for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, 11 are existing venues inherited from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. "We only need to build a competition venue for speed skating," Zhu said.

Meanwhile, experience in organizing the 2008 Summer Games will help smooth the country's job for the winter Games, providing the athletes with the best experience and ensuring sustainability and cost-efficiency for the Games, Zhu added.