Snow not a concern for Beijing to host 2022 Winter Games

Beijing, whilst campaigning to host the 2022 Winter Olympics

Beijing, May 10 (IANS) Snow will not be a concern for Beijing and Chongli county to host snow sports if China win hosting rights of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

It surprisingly snowed in Chongli and Beijing on Friday as Beijing's average temperature in May is between 14 to 26 degrees Celsius, reports Xinhua news agency.

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

"The total annual snowfall here can reach more than one metre," said Liu.

"Chongli has a high forest coverage and an excellent ecological environment, which is beneficial for snow storage," he said.

The average winter temperature in Chongli is minus 12 degrees Celsius, more than the Winter Olympics requirement of not lower than minus 18 degrees during the snow season in April, with the average wind speed in scale 2.

The mountain altitude in Chongli ranges from 814 metres to 2,174 metres, 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 venue for snow events in Beijing's joint bid with Zhangjiakou for the 2022 Games.

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

The host city for the event will be elected on July 31 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing, China, in contention.