Children find snow sports cool, survey reveals

A survey of Chinese youth involvement in winter sports in 2021 shows that 30 percent of the 3,890 respondents have taken part in winter sports and more than 60 percent have a positive perspective on its future development among young Chinese.

Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed were aged 18 to 21, and 93.8 percent are college students, according to the survey report, which was co-released by Tsinghua University's Center for Development of Sports Industry and Youth.cn, a news portal of the Communist Youth League of China.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics has seen 46.3 percent of respondents start to pay attention to information related to winter sports, while 48.9 percent have deepened their knowledge of the sector and 36.8 percent like the idea of taking part in winter sports.

About 81.5 percent of respondents took part in ice sports one to five times a year and 62.7 percent prefer snow sports, the report says.

As schools introduced relevant publicity events, competitions and performances, young people feel more passionate about the Winter Olympics.

The report shows that 61.3 percent of respondents are likely to watch the Games on television or via the internet, and 38.4 percent would like to serve the Games as volunteers.

Social media has become the main channel for young people to follow winter sports, with nearly 70 percent of respondents to the survey choosing apps such as WeChat and Douyin, while 36.6 percent follow popular bloggers and winter sports celebrities.

Qin Yi, a lecturer at Zhejiang University of Technology and a short-video vlogger, tells Youth.cn that attracting teenagers can drive the whole family to participate, and the involvement of family usually forms the trend of parental activities.

Convenient and affordable equipment on e-commerce platforms has become the first choice of 48 percent of respondents. So far, 88.5 percent spent less than 1,000 yuan ($157) each year on snow and ice sports, while 25.4 percent are willing to invest more.

Wang Xueli, director of the center, says, based on the survey, the report suggests reducing the price of ice and snow sports for youths. "Many resorts have offered coupons and free tickets targeting youngsters," she said.

New media platforms, which are overwhelmingly used by young people, are expected to play a bigger role in boosting the development of winter sports, she added.