Beijing embraces ice-and-snow tourism boom

BEIJING -- In winter, Kunming Lake of the Summer Palace, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site in Beijing, becomes the city's major ice rink for winter fun.

The natural ice rink in the northwestern part of Beijing has a total area of 350,000 square meters, able to accommodate 5,000 people at a time. In January, it received more than 230,000 players in activities such as ice-cart racing and speed skating.

Several rounds of snowfall this winter have adorned the grand ancient architectural structures in the park, garnering widespread popularity among tourists.

"Skating on the ice lake in the former royal garden, with the backdrop of the famous 17-arch bridge, is like a dream for me," said a tourist surnamed Liu from Shanghai.

After hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics, Beijing had a packed schedule of giving its sports venues to international competitions of winter sports this winter. Beijing's Shougang Park, an iconic venue from the Winter Games, welcomed the return of big air action with the FIS Snowboard and Freeski Big Air World Cup between Nov 30 and Dec 2 in 2023.

In addition to using the Winter Olympic heritage to stage professional matches, Beijing has been keen to attract locals and tourists to experience the ice and snow fun with the public facilities.

More than 10 commercial districts in the national capital have offered more than 100 ice and snow venues, staging a series of recreational activities. The Beijing municipal bureau of sports also held 15 public sports events, encouraging local residents to experience ice-and-snow sports.

According to the Beijing municipal park management center, there are eight natural ice rinks open in five parks in the city. From nostalgic ice bikes to novel ice drifting carts, electric sledges, and ice slides, tourists of different ages can enjoy the ice-and-snow entertainment.

Beijing currently boasts more than 1 million square meters of ice rinks and skiing areas. The municipal bureau of culture and tourism has designated the ice-and-snow tourism as a new growth point for tourism development.