24TH WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES IN BEIJING

Beijing received the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics on 31 July 2015. The Chinese capital will be the first city to host the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

The games will be held under the slogan “Joyful Rendezvous Upon Pure Ice and Snow” and will build on the legacy of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The Games will feature 109 medal events in seven winter sports. The competitions will be held in three zones: downtown Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

Beijing will use the sports facilities of the 2008 Olympics and will host all the ice competitions (curling, ice hockey, speed skating) and also four snow competitions (big air snowboarding and freestyle skiing).

The Yanqing district, 80km northwest of Beijing, will host medal events in alpine skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge.

Zhangjiakou is located further northwest, in neighboring Hebei Province. The popular winter resort of Chongli, located there, will host the rest of the competitions in snowboarding, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined and biathlon.

The high-speed railroad built in 2019 has reduced the travel time from Beijing to Yanqing to 20 minutes and from Beijing to Zhangjiakou to 50 minutes.

BING DWEN DWEN, THE MASCOT OF THE 2022 WINTER GAMES

In modern Chinese, the word “Bing” has several meanings. The most common is ice, and also purity and strength. “Dwen Dwen” means healthy, robust, and lively. It is also a word often used when talking about children.

The new Olympic mascot is the ambassador of winter sports, which brings joy to participants and spectators of the Olympics. It represents the strength of the body and will of the athletes.

Bing Dwen Dwen wears an ice shell, which resembles a space suit. This is how the organizers demonstrate connection to new technology and a future for infinite possibilities. In his ice suit, the panda can skate, ski and snowboard alongside Olympic athletes.

To represent the latest technology of Beijing's snow sport tracks, Bing has a brightly colored halo glow around its face. The mascot also features a heart on its left palm, which represents China's hospitality towards athletes and spectators at the Winter Olympics.