Beijing to preserve heritage of 2022 Winter Olympic Games

Beijing will make full use of the facilities leftover from the 2022 Winter Olympics to serve the public, said a senior official during the China International Fair for Trade in Services held in the capital on Sept 4-9.

Han Zirong, vice-president and secretary-general of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, delivered a speech at the Olympic City Development Forum on Sunday, saying that the Olympic Games not only brings excellent sports to the world, but also leaves great heritage in host cities.

"Every host city should consider how to make best use of the heritage given by the Games," she said.

For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, many stadiums were used during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including the National Stadium, nicknamed the "Bird's Nest", and the National Aquatics Center, or the "Water Cube", which has been transformed into the "Ice Cube" for holding curling events at the 2022 Olympics.

"After 2022, the 'Ice Cube' will be open to the public for winter sports," Han added.

According to Beijing State-owned Assets Management, a company that owns the National Aquatics Center, people in Beijing can enjoy water sports in the center and ice sports at the south of the center by the end of this year.

The National Speed Skating Oval, or called "Ice Ribbon", another stadium built for the Beijing Winter Olympics and also owned by the company, has adopted carbon dioxide ice-making technology, which has reduced carbon emissions.

During the World Winter Sports Expo, which is part of the CIFTIS this year, 500 brands from more than 20 countries have participated in the 2,000-square-meter sports service theme exhibition.

The sports service theme exhibition has five areas, focusing on sports equipment manufacturing, sports apparel products, cutting-edge technology, emerging services and interactive experiences.

The sports cutting-edge technology area showcases applications of 5G and 8K technology, big data and the digital cloud, which has attracted many visitors.

The sports interactive experience area provides sports virtual reality experiences, an artificial intelligence body test and scientific sports training. People can try the interactive experience exhibition area to feel the fusion of sports and technology.

Gao Xing, a primary school student in Beijing, said it feels vividly real and exciting after trying VR skiing at the expo. "My school has started giving winter sports classes such as skiing, which has attracted many classmates," he said. "However, the VR skiing is much cooler to me."