Beijing teams up with city 200km away in bid to host Winter Olympics
Capital to team up with Zhangjiakou, 200km away, in bid to be first city to hold both Games
Beijing aims to become the first to host both summer and winter Olympic Games by teaming up with a city 200 kilometres away.
Beijing, the 2008 Summer Games host city, would stage the ice events while Zhangjiakou would host snow sports, Xinhua quoted the COC as saying.
Surprisingly Harbin, another northern city in Heilongjiang province, is not on the bidding list. The city had bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics but was not selected. It was reportedly denied the chance to bid for 2018 by China's General Administration of Sport.
Some internet users questioned the decision, as they believed Harbin was better positioned to host the winter games. Harbin hosted the 24th Winter World University Games in 2009.
"Beijing's convenient transport, strong financial capacity and excellent stadium facilities are advantages for the bidding. Its experience of hosting the 2008 Summer Games is also a plus," said Tu Xiaokun, a basketball referee who served on the Beijing Games organising committee.