Beijing keeps Winter Games champagne on ice
Finish line looms in bid for 2022 Olympics, but a handful of hurdles remain if China is to leave rival front runner, Kazakhstan, out in the cold
From long shot to front runner, China has already cleared a series of hurdles in the race to land the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
Just a year ago, it was up against a long list of European candidates: Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine and Norway. The competition was whittled down in the face of public opposition and financial concerns in the region.
But left now in a tight two-city contest with Almaty, Kazakhstan, Beijing still faces a handful of obstacles if its bid is to win final approval from the International Olympic Committee in July.
One major problem is finding a suitable location for the alpine ski races.
Beijing, the main host, lies on relatively flat land. Its partner city in the bid, Zhangjiakou in northwest Hubei, will open its ski trails for the Games if China wins the hosting rights. But alpine skiing calls for steep mountain slopes more than 800 metres high, which neither Beijing nor Zhangjiakou has.
Yanqing county, about 100km northwest of Beijing, is home to a 2,199-metre-high mountain, Xiaohaituo, that fits the criteria, yet the area has not seen much snowfall in years. Only the mountain peak is capped in snow, while the rest of it is covered in thick vegetation and alpine meadows.