Snow not a concern for Beijing to host 2022 Winter Games

BEIJING - Snow will not be a concern for Beijing and Chongli county to host snow sports if the 2022 Winter Olympics lands on China.

It surprisingly snowed in Chongli and Beijing on Friday as Beijing's average temperature in May is between 14 to 26 degrees centigrade.

Liu Jianjun, who has been working in Chongli's weather bureau for three decades, said the Chongli's ski season lasts over 150 days from the end of October to the next April.

"The total annual snowfall here can reach more than one meter," said Liu. "Chongli has a high forest coverage and an excellent ecological environment, which is beneficial for snow storage."

The average winter temperature in Chongli is minus 12 degrees centigrade, well above the requirement of the Winter Olympics held at no lower than minus 18 during the snow season in April, and the average wind speed measures in scale 2.

The mountain altitude in Chongli ranges from 814 meters to 2,174 meters, suitable for skiing events as the slope degrees are mostly between 5 to 35.

Chongli, a small county in northwest Hebei province, has been listed as venues of snow events in Beijing's joint bid with Zhangjiakou for the 2022 Games.

If Beijing and Zhangjiakou can win the Olympics bid, Chongli will play host to events like ski jumping, snowboarding, freestyle skiing, cross country skiing, Nordic combined and biathlon.