Harbin, China, September 25, 2024: The boom in winter sports in China will be in evidence when Yabuli hosts the snow events of the 9th Asian Winter Games next February 7-14.
While the ice sports will take place in Harbin, 32 events in six disciplines will be held on the snow of Yabuli, some 190km away from Harbin – or just over one hour by high-speed train.
Yabuli is regarded as a pioneering winter sports resort in China and is one of the top four ski destinations in the country. This reputation is growing annually thanks to President Xi Jinping's goal to introduce winter sports to 300 million people as a legacy of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.
“The number of winter sports tourists to Yabuli is increasing every year by 20 per cent, and the income by 10 per cent,” said Yang Xiaodong, Deputy Director of the Yabuli Snow Sports Competition Zone.
“In the last winter sports season, 1.1 million people visited Yabuli from the end of October to the end of March. This is a direct result of President Xi Jinping's call for 300 million people to be involved in ice and snow sports – and Yabuli is one of the ‘go-to’ places.
“Our facilities are being upgraded every year and we have world-class competition venues. Yabuli now has 56 ski slopes operated by eight ski resorts with a total distance of 100km and can cater for professional skiers as well as amateurs. All the facilities are built to competition standard.”
Yabuli hosted the 3rd Asian Winter Games snow sports events in 1996, the 24th Winter Universiade in 2009 and four National Winter Games, as well as a number of snowboard world cup legs.
Yabuli sports and local government officials welcomed delegates of the Chefs de Mission Seminar on Wednesday and showed them the OCA official hotel and one of two hotels to accommodate the athletes. In total, they are expecting 2,300 athletes, officials and media to stay in Yabuli next February.
The OCA hotel is the Yaxue, with 69 rooms, while the main hotel for athletes and officials is the Avaunce, which has six floors and 281 rooms. During the AWG, the Avaunce will accommodate 580 athletes and officials.
The venue tour took in the Heilongjiang Yabuli Sports Training Base and competition sites for slalom skiing, slopestyle, big air, aerials, halfpipe and biathlon.
Another interesting stop was the indoor Yabuli medals plaza, where all 32 sets of medals will be presented in a festive environment a couple of hours after each competition has finished.
The 32 medals in snow sports will be presented in the following: Alpine skiing, 2; cross-country skiing, 6; freestyle skiing, 11; snowboard, 6; biathlon, 4; ski mountaineering, 3.
