Carnival raises profile of winter sports

Skating on frozen ponds and snowball fights have long been popular outdoor pursuits among young people in North China.

The Hebei session of the 2016 National Youth Winter Sports Carnival provided students from five nearby provinces and regions a stage to turn their childhood pastime into fun competitions while exchanging friendship in Guyuan county of Hebei city Zhangjiakou, Beijing's co-host for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The event attracted 18 teams of more than 300 students from Beijing and Tianjin municipalities, Shanxi province and the Inner Mongolian autonomous region as well as host Hebei province to take part in more than 10 competitive events and fun activities including short-track speed skating, dragon boat racing on ice and ice sledging.

The event was initiated after Beijing won the right to host the 2022 Winter Games with Zhangjiakou in July, aimed at promoting winter sports among Chinese youth while enhancing culture exchanges.

Guo Youhe, Party chief of Guyuan country, said the event has worked well in helping grow the awareness of outdoor winter exercise among students as well as increasing the profile of sports and tourism development.

"The passion for winter sports among participating students was contagious at the event which also drew attention to Guyuan as an ideal destination for winter recreation," Guo said.

Yang Lihua, an official in charge of physical education and health with Hebei provincial education department, credited the event's promotion of winter sports among students.

"It will contribute to the national goal to promote winter sports among 300 million Chinese ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics as more students have now adopted skating and skiing as accessible winter exercises," Yang said.

The Hebei event was one of the six sessions of the national carnival, which featured a main session at Jingpo Lake scenic park in Mudanjiang, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

In addition to competitions, the Hebei session also featured fun activities such as five-a-side soccer on snow, spinning tops on ice and ice bumper cars as well as Olympic culture demonstrations.

Li Nina, China's three-time freestyle skiing aerials world champion, encouraged young participants to carry on winter exercises as lifetime habits for "not only better physical condition but also mental drills through challenging and fun actions".