Chongqing- With the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games are in full swing, more people flock to winter sports, and Chongqing locals are no exception.
Despite meager amounts of snow and ice, Chongqing has accelerated the popularization of winter sports. Although there is no place for skiing in the main urban area, its surrounding places say otherwise.
For example, there are three pistes in the east that can host domestic and international professional events in Dakini Mountain Ski Resort in Fengdu County. In the south, Mount Jinfo Ski Resort in Nanchuan District creates an amazing snow world with an area of over 20,000 square meters.
Winter sports have become the new fashion of the Spring Festival holiday. (iChongqing file photo)
Chongqing people and winter sports
Geological conditions and climate influence the rare snowfalls of Chongqing, but this doesn't affect people's love for ice and snow, furthermore, it stimulates more tremendous enthusiasm and expectation for snowfall.
After China announced the list of its delegation for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Wang Qiang, a cross-country skier, became the first athlete from Chongqing who completed the international multi-sport event on January 27, the inspiring news marks that the city's ice-snow industry has entered a new chapter.
With the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Chongqing makes unprecedentedly great efforts to develop the ice-snow industry at a rapid pace — 15 indoor and outdoor ski fields have been built or upgraded successively; ice rinks have been opened in popular commercial complexes across the city.
"Who would have thought that I went skiing for the first time in Chongqing, my hometown, although I study in northeast China," said Ouyang Xiangyu, a 22-year-old undergraduate student, beside a piste in Mount Jinfo Ski Resort.
Compared to the southern region, every winter in northeast China, the coldest places are often the hottest tourist spots, commonly seeing snowfalls.
Children experience skiing at the indoor ski resort. (iChongqing file photo)
"In 2018, Chongqing had fewer than 10,000 winter sports players; yet in 2021, that number had climbed to 1.5 million," said Ke Ping, Director of Chongqing Winter Sports Management Center.
He added that the ice-snow industry in Chongqing was unlocking its great growth potential.
Powered by Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and consumption upgrading, Chongqing also integrates tourism, healthcare, education, and other sectors with the ice-snow industry, to tap into the latter's potential to the greatest extent and satisfy people's consumption needs.
Tourists Flourishing in for ice and snow sports
Mount Jinfo Ski Resort is the nearest outdoor ski resort to the city proper, with the best snow condition and the longest snow accumulation period. It is one of the popular destinations for ice-snow tourism in Chongqing, and revenue made during the ice-snow season contributes over 1/3 to the annual income of the scenic area.
"The number of tourists received by the ski resort increased by 2.8 times, and the income increased by 4.1 times in 2021. Meanwhile, we found that tourists put higher demand on the ski resort's professionalism and services," said Xian Qiyi, head of Beipo Ski Resort.
A picture of Mount Jinfo Ski Resort. (iChongqing file photo)
In 2020, Mount Jinfo Ski Resort replaced pistes with more professional ones, added ski gear and facilities, and optimized products and services.
Mount Jinfo Scenic Area released some data recently, showing that it received 12,000 tourists in each of the first two days of the 2022 New Year's Day holiday— its maximum capacity. In the three-day holiday, it received 38,200 tourists in total, and the revenue reached 8,586,300 yuan (about 1,348,560 U.S. dollars), of which the ski resort contributed 2,799,700 yuan.
Thus, it can be concluded that the ice-snow industry plays a significant role in local economic development.
"To develop the ice-snow industry, we are committed to building an industrial chain integrating ski gear, equipment, transportation, accommodation, shopping, and healthcare," said Wang Bing, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Mount Jinfo Scenic Area. By combining all-for-one tourism with rural revitalization, Chongqing plans to create growth engines for the industry.