Ice and Snow Sports Lighten up the Chinese New Year
Guide to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 – A Celebration on Ice and Snow
Compiled by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
Price: RMB 15
Paperback, 56 pages
Published by Foreign Languages Press & Dolphin Books
Back on July 31, 2015, at the 128th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Beijing in partnership with Zhangjiakou, a city about 200 kilometers northwest of Beijing in Hebei Province, was announced as the next host city of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2022. The inspiring news made Beijing the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
Guide to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 – A Celebration on Ice and Snow is an informative and practical must-read about the event. The book uses icy blue cartoon style drawings to add in some unique Chinese cultural elements.
A Chinese saying goes, “The whole year’s work depends on a good start in spring.” The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 (Beijing 2022) will kick off on February 4, a day called “Lichun” in Chinese, meaning the beginning of spring on the Chinese lunar calendar.
Held from February 4 to 20, the Beijing Winter Olympics coincides with the Chinese New Year and the Chinese Lantern Festival, which will allow the Chinese people to enjoy the Games during the most festive holiday with family members, together with billions of viewers worldwide.
The book’s five chapters are Joyful Rendezvous upon Ice and Snow, Staging an Excellent Games on Ice and Snow, Enchanting World of Ice and Snow, A Winter Dream Comes True, and Leaps to Success.
In the first chapter, the book provides some basic information about Beijing 2022, such as the dates, competition venues, and the high-speed railway that connects three competition zones – downtown Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou. A total of 12 competition venues, three training venues, and 28 non-competition venues will be in service during the Games. Some of these venues are nicknamed after their unique shapes, for example, the National Speed Skating Oval is known as the “Ice Ribbon,” and the National Ski Jumping Center is known as “Snow Ruyi,” as it is designed in the shape of a Ruyi scepter, a Chinese talisman, full of Chinese cultural connotations.
The second chapter expounds upon the vision and mission of Beijing 2022. A sustainability plan and cutting-edge technologies have been applied to help the country honor its commitment to hosting green, inclusive, open, and clean Games. To this end, ecological protection, resource conservation, and environmental friendliness have been put as top priorities, with multiple measures to reduce carbon emissions. Buildings were made with renewable energy and renewable materials. Even the discharged carbon dioxide has been used as refrigerant for creating ice – making it one of the world’s most environmentally friendly ice production methods. The National Speed Skating Oval has become the world’s first venue to use such technology for the Olympic Winter Games.
Hi-tech has become one of the defining features of the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. A wide range of cutting-edge technologies have been deployed when building or remodeling venues, upgrading sporting facilities and equipment, organizing competitions, and arranging global broadcasting of the events. For example, all venues are connected by shuttle buses and vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cell engines made and road tested in China. Beijing 2022 will also adopt a multilingual speech recognition conference translation system to create a barrier-free communication environment.
The third chapter looks back into the origins and history of ice and snow sports, and also introduces the logos, designs, and mascots of Beijing 2022. The modern Olympic Games started only about a century ago. The Olympic spirit, which entails mutual understanding in the spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play, has become a driving force for individual development and social progress. Through competing in the Paralympic Games, athletes with disabilities find new platforms to realize their dreams and explore and celebrate their strengths and abilities.
The fourth chapter delves into all forms of Winter Olympic sports. As approved by the IOC Executive Board, Beijing 2022 will have 109 events in 15 disciplines across seven sports. The event also has the highest representation of female athletes in the history of Olympic Winter Games. The book also provides an overview of all the 15 disciplines, including speed skating, short track speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey, curling, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, snowboard, biathlon, bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge.
The last chapter focuses on the six sports that will be featured at the Paralympic Winter Games, which include para Alpine skiing, para cross-country skiing, para biathlon, para snowboard, para ice hockey, and wheelchair curling. To ensure a fair competition, para athletes are classified in their respective sports in such a manner that athletes with similar abilities can compete in the same group.