By He Yong, People’s Daily
Yanqing Olympic Zone in the Yanqing competition zone of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which has been officially approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and thus become the third area in Beijing titled “Olympic” after Beijing’s Olympic Park and Winter Olympic Park, is slated to open to the public on April 29 and operate in all seasons.
Located on the Xiaohaituo Mountain in Yanqing district, Beijing, the Yanqing Olympic Zone consists of venues and facilities for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics including the National Alpine Skiing Center, National Sliding Center, and the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Village in Yanqing district. It is one of the important legacies left by Beijing 2022.
As the core area of the Yanqing competition zone, the Yanqing Olympic Zone is expected to be developed and exploited in many ways based on its three functional sections, namely the core area of the mountain and outdoor sports, indoor leisure, and recreational activity area, and comprehensive service area for visitors.
According to an executive of the Yanqing Olympic Zone, it will build an international ski resort that features skiing-related facilities and services that suit visitors’ needs for mountain and outdoor sports, health care, vacation, recreation, and leisure.
While keeping the functions of hosting international high-level alpine skiing competitions and satisfying the training needs of professional athletes, the National Alpine Skiing Center will be moderately transformed so as to function as an alpine skiing training base, ski school, etc. with a multi-dimensional skiing training and teaching system, according to the executive.
The National Sliding Center, which is dubbed the “Flying Snow Dragon”, will remain a competition venue and be used for undertaking and hosting high-level competitions while providing professional training fields for national sports teams, the executive said.
“Retaining memories of Beijing 2022 while providing characteristic experiences is expected to be a major feature of the Yanqing Olympic Zone,” said Fu Liansheng, chairman of a company based in the Yanqing district that provides services and products related to leisure and fitness activities.
The Yanqing Olympic Zone will preserve all the landscape elements of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, according to Fu, who added that the office of the head of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Village in the Yanqing district will remain open to visitors and the ornaments featuring the official mascots of the Games, Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon, which is popular among athletes, have also been kept where they were.
In addition, the resort hotel of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Village retains facilities set up for the Games, including the exhibition areas of traditional culture and traditional Chinese medicine culture, the post office, and the souvenir shop, and will hold Beijing Winter Olympics-themed exhibitions to help visitors experience the atmosphere of the grand event.
The mountain valley where the Yanqing Olympic Zone is situated enjoys a beautiful natural landscape, abundant animal and plant resources, and ice and snow resources.
Based on the natural resources of Xiaohaituo Mountain, Yanqing Olympic Zone will launch a series of activities, including a cycling race, music festival, cross-country race, and mountaineering festival, by leveraging the influence of key competitions and activities and making good use of leading global resources and activities to which Yanqing Olympic Zone owns intellectual property rights, Fu said, noting that the Xiaohaituo Mountain will be turned into a tourist attraction where tourists can enjoy the view of blossoms in spring, escape the summer heat, view splendid mountain scenery in autumn, and play with snow in winter.
In an effort to make sure it can operate all year round, Yanqing Olympic Zone will start a school to cultivate talents including professionals providing services for skiers in winter and mountain guides who help climbers in summer. It will also build an integrated camp that combines training fields, accommodation, and teaching activities.
Xidazhuangke village, located near the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Village in Yanqing district, will build a culture exhibition zone featuring homestay hotels in a mountain village in northern China. Houses in the mountain village will surround the buildings that served Beijing 2022.
Residents of the village are expected to receive keys and move into their new homes in a few days.
Leveraging its advantage of being a part of the Yanqing competition zone, Zhangshanying township, to which Xidazhuangke village belongs, aims to build a world-famous beautiful Winter Olympics-themed town featuring ice and snow sports and activities.
In the first quarter of this year, projects designed to improve the living environment of 13 villages in Zhangshanying township were kicked off, according to an official of the township, who disclosed that the local government has also made continuous efforts to promote local infrastructure construction and implement projects to boost the development of fruit industry.
The township tries to make the most of its lush mountains and lucid waters and ice and snow elements to stimulate the growth of local industries and increase people’s income, said the official.
Relying on the Yanqing Olympic Zone, the Yanqing district will pool its resources to develop itself into a tourist destination featuring “all-for-one” tourism and integrated tourism products and services.
An official with the culture and tourism bureau of Yanqing district disclosed that the district will hold international top-level ice and snow sports events on a long-term basis, continuously undertake competition events like a world-class cycling road race, mountain marathon, and cross-country mountain race, and gradually open to the public leisure tourism projects and facilities including ski resorts, customized routes for mountain hiking, and summer camp for families.
It’s believed that the Yanqing Olympic Zone will further add vigor and dynamism to the area it is located and turn venues like the National Alpine Skiing Center and National Sliding Center into high-quality assets that benefit the people.
