Winter sports booming in NW China after Beijing 2022

LANZHOU, China, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Taking a selfie with a cellphone and stepping on her snowboard, 26-year-old Guo Qianjia opened the live broadcast application to memorize her first snow event this winter.

Guo, who lives in Baiyin City in northwest China's Gansu Province, was snowboarding at the resort of the Gansu Baiyin national snow sports training base. After the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, more and more people in northwest China are attracted by colorful winter sports.

"I started to learn skiing in 2021. The amazing Beijing Winter Olympics made me love skiing more," said Guo, adding that she even upgraded from an amateur to an elite in both snowboarding and skiing after two years of practice.

Like Guo, more and more skiing lovers began to flock to the resort in the early morning. All instructors have felt a significant increase in sports intensity.

"I can guide eight tourists to learn to ski in a day at the weekends. Instructors are expected to be busier after the Spring Festival holiday," said Zhou Jingtao, instructor of the resort, adding that nearly all instructors of the resort had no time to grab a bite when busy.

The resort of the training base covers an area of over 110,000 square meters, including the playing area, dining hall, two 200-meter tracks for amateurs, two runs with a length of 170 meters for advanced skiers and an over-100m elite piste.

"The total number of tourists received by the resort has exceeded 270,000 [since its establishment in 2017]. The maximum number of tourists received on weekends and holidays was nearly 2,500 per day," said He Xiaobin, deputy manager of the sports department of the training base.

With the increase in the number of tourists at about noon time, different support work has been put into use at the resort.

In front of the magic carpet beside the piste, many skiers have lined up. The magic carpet, known as the conveyor belt, which plays an important role in bringing tourists up to the top of the track quickly, was the main transportation tool of the resort. Several workers from the local State Grid were carefully checking the power facilities of the magic carpet.

Luo Chen, director of Zhongquan power supply station of Baiyin Branch of State Grid, indicated that in order to deal with the peak electricity consumption during weekends and holidays, workers inspect the power facilities of the resort routinely.

"In case of emergency events, the staff will solve different problems without power cut to help all tourists enjoy their stay at the resort," Luo said.

In the dining hall that could accommodate nearly 400 people, there were not many seats available at noon. More than ten waiters and waitresses helped tourists at the buffet stall.

This national training base was built in late 2019, containing a skier service center with over 100 rooms, a 75,000-square meter ski resort, an indoor training hall and a biathlon field.

"The base has become one of China's important fulcrums on winter sports," said He, adding that the Chinese paralympic cross-country skiing and biathlon teams had gathered at the base to prepare for the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games last January.

Various types of winter sports events have been carried out in Gansu, Qinghai and other northwestern Provinces since this winter.

"The National Biathlon Championships will be held at the training base this February," said He, adding that the track making, medical care and other work have been almost finished by now.

Recent statistics released by China Ice and Snow Tourism Development Forum showed that the predicted number of tourists in China will exceed 300 million during the 2022-2023 season.

The consumption potential of winter sports has been continuously released in northwest China these years.

"After the bid for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, winter sports in Gansu Province have become the new favorite of local people," said Wang Xiangchen, Director of Administration of Sport of Gansu Province.