Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 | All The Essential Information You Need

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 | Your Complete Guide

Beijing-Winter-Olympics

The Beijing Winter Olympics is all set to start in February 2022.

It is all set to be a record breaking games with seven new events added to make a total of 109 events!

Here at LTL we are Beijing experts so we decided to put together a complete guide to the Beijing Winter Olympics.

This article provides you with all the information you need to stay up to date and enjoy them whether you’re living in China or abroad.

Beijing Winter Olympics – Quick Facts

Beijing Winter Olympics – Events

Beijing Winter Olympics – The Three Venue “Zones”

Beijing Winter Olympics – The Schedule

Beijing Winter Olympics – Tickets

Beijing Winter Olympics – Winter Olympic Sports in Chinese

Did you know Beijing has a fancy new airport? We went to check it out and give you a peek inside

Beijing Winter Olympics – Quick Facts

Beijing-Winter-Olympics

Kicking off on 4th February 2022 the Beijing Winter Olympics, will make Beijing the FIRST EVER city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Not only is that an exciting event of itself, but the Beijing Winter Olympics also takes place during the Chinese New Year (春节chūnjié) period.

In 2022 Chinese New Year falls on 1st February, the official celebration period starts on Chinese New Year’s Eve (除夕 chúxī) 31st January and lasts until the Lantern Festival (元宵节 yuánxiāo jié) which in 2022 falls on 15th February.

The Beijing Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony will be held on 4th February, although there will be some events running from 2nd February.

Beijing-Winter-Olympics

The Closing Ceremony will then be held on 20th February.

The Beijing Winter Paralympics will run from 4th March to 13th March.

Officially the Beijing 2022 games are the XXIV Olympic Winter Games or if you don’t know your Roman numerals that’s the 24th Olympic Winter Games or 第二十四届冬季奥林匹克运动会 (dì èrshísì jiè dōngjì àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì) in Chinese.

Olympics in Chinese Vocab

EnglishHanziPinyin
Olympic Games奥林匹克运动会àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì
Abbreviations for the Olympics奥运, 奥运会àoyùn, àoyùnhuì
Winter Olympics冬季奥林匹克运动会dōngjì àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì
Abbreviation for the Winter Olympics冬奥会dōng’àohuì
Summer Olympics夏季奥运会xiàjì àoyùnhuì
Paralympics残疾人奥运会cánjírén àoyùnhuì
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Beijing Winter Olympics – Events

For the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics there will be a total of 109 events in 15 disciplines of 7 sports.

This is a record number of events and also will make this Winter Olympics the most gender balanced in its history with 50 events for men, 46 events for women, 11 events for mixed teams, and 2 open events.

SportDisciplineNumber of Events
BiathlonBiathlon11
BobsleighBobsleigh4
BobsleighSkeleton2
CurlingCurling3
Ice HockeyIce Hockey2
LugeLuge4
SkatingFigure Skating5
SkatingShort Track Speed Skating9
SkatingSpeed Skating14
SkiingAlpine Skiing11
SkiingCross-Country Skiing12
SkiingFreestyle Skiing13
SkiingNordic Combined3
SkiingSki Jumping5
SkiingSnowboard11

For the 2022 Winter Olympics there have been seven new events added:

DisciplineNewly Added Event
BobsleighWomen’s Monobob
Short Track Speed SkatingTeam Relay
Ski JumpingMixed Team
Freestyle SkiingMen’s Big Air
Freestyle SkiingWomen’s Big Air
Freestyle SkiingAerials Mixed Team
SnowboardSnowboard Cross Mixed Team

Beijing Winter Olympics – The Three Venue “Zones”

For the Beijing Winter Olympics, there will be three different “zones” where events are held: two within Beijing and one in neighbouring Hebei Province. The three zones are:

  • Beijing Zone
  • Yanqing Zone
  • Zhangjiakou Zone

Now, let’s have a look at what events are being held where and what the specific venues are like…

Beijing Zone

First up we have the Beijing Zone, which includes venues located in central Beijing.

The main events held in this zone will be the ice events as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

The National Stadium
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

Anyone who watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics should already be familiar with The National Stadium (国家体育场 guójiā tǐyùchǎng) aka “The Bird’s Nest” (鸟巢 niǎocháo).

During the 2008 Olympics this was the venue for the athletics competition, however for the Winter Olympics it won’t host any sporting events.

Instead it will just be used to host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

If the Ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics are anything to go by, the Winter Opening and Closing Ceremonies are sure to be an amazing display and are definitely not to be missed!

📅 Events held there: Opening and closing ceremony
📍 Location: Olympic Green

National Aquatics Centre
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

Another iconic venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the National Aquatics Centre (北京国家游泳中心 běijīng guójiā yóuyǒng zhōngxīn).

Colloquially known as the “Water Cube” (水立方 shuǐ lìfāng) it is going to transformed into the “Ice Cube” (冰立方 bīng lìfāng) for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

This is definitely going to be one of the venues seeing the most action, with curling events being held there everyday of the Winter Olympics!

📅 Events held there: Curling
📍 Location: Olympic Green

National Indoor Stadium

Yet another important venue from the 2008 games, we have the National Indoor Stadium (国家体育馆 guójiā tǐyùguǎn). This venue was nicknamed “The Fan” (扇子 shànzi) due to its design resembling a traditional Chinese folding fan.

In 2015 it hosted the ice hockey women’s world championship and following on from that tradition will co-host ice hockey for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

📅 Events held there: Ice hockey
📍 Location: Olympic Green

Wukesong Sports Centre

Next on our list of venues we have the other venue that will also be hosting ice hockey: Wukesong Sports Centre (五棵松体育馆 wǔkēsōng tǐyùguǎn).

In 2008 it staged the basketball tournament and since then has been a multipurpose arena. It will be the main venue for hosting the ice hockey.

📅 Events held there: Ice hockey
📍 Location: 69 Fuxing Road

National Speed Skating Oval
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

The National Speed Skating Oval (国家速滑馆 guójiā sù huá guǎn) is the only new venue built on the Beijing Olympic Green for the Winter Olympics.

Like the other Olympic Green venues, this one also has a nickname which is the “Ice Ribbon” (冰丝带 bīng sīdài).

As you can probably guess from the name, this venue will host the speed skating events.

The facade of the building is made from BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaics) power glass which generates and provides electricity for the building.

📅 Events held there: Speed skating
📍 Location: Olympic Green

Capital Indoor Stadium

Originally built in 1968, Capital Indoor Stadium (首都体育馆 shǒudū tǐyùguǎn) is the oldest of the venues to host an event at the Winter Olympics.

This venue has a lot of historical significance, hosting table tennis matches in 1971 between China and the US in what was known as “ping pong diplomacy” (乒乓外交 pīngpāng wàijiāo).

It also hosted one of the first NBA games in China in 2004.

📅 Events held there: Short track speed skating and figure skating
📍 Location: 56 Zhong Guan Cun Da Jie

Big Air Shougang
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

Last on the list of venues in the Beijing Zone is Big Air Shougang (首钢滑雪大跳台 shǒugāng huáxuě dà tiàotái) which was completed in November 2019.

It has been built on a former steel mill site and is the world’s first ever permanent venue for Big Air sports.

📅 Events held there: Snowboarding and freestyle skiing
📍 Location: Shougang Industrial Park, 68 Shijingshan Road

Yanqing Zone

The Yanqing Zone is located 75 kilometres northwest of Beijing’s city centre, in Beijing’s Yanqing District.

This Beijing suburb is home to hot springs, ski resorts and the Badaling Section of The Great Wall.

National Alpine Skiing Centre
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

Built specifically to host the alpine skiing events during the Beijing Winter Olympics is the National Alpine Skiing Centre (国家高山滑雪中心 guójiā gāoshān huáxuě zhōngxīn).

This venue has seven courses, a total piste length of 21 kilometres and and runs with vertical drops of up to 900 metres. It is the highest-level alpine skiing centre in China.

📅 Events held there: Alpine Skiing
📍 Location: Xiaohaituo Mountain Area in northwest Yanqing

National Sliding Centre
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

At first glance the English name National Sliding Centre (国家雪车雪橇中心 guójiā xuě chē xuěqiāo zhōngxīn), might spark visions of some kind of giant slide amusement park, but actually this is the venue for hosting bobsleigh, skeleton and luge competitions.

This is another venue that was built specifically for the Winter Olympics and was completed in 2020.

It is the first sliding track in China and only the third in Asia. The venue has 16 curves with different angles and slopes, its total length is 1.9 kilometres.

📅 Events held there: Bobsleigh, skeleton and luge
📍 Location: Southwest of Yanqing District

Zhangjiakou Zone

The Zhangjiakou Zone is actually located outside of Beijing, and is instead in neighbouring Hebei Province.

Zhangjiakou is about 180 kilometres northwest of Beijing and is a popular Chinese ski destination.

The majority of ski and snowboarding events will be held in the Zhangjiakou Zone, which is located in the Chongli District.

National Ski Jumping Centre
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

The National Ski Jumping Centre (国家跳台滑雪中心 guójiā tiàotái huáxuě zhōngxīn) is the first ski jumping venue to meet international standards in China.

It will host the ski jumping events and co-host the Nordic combined.

Colloquially the venue is also known as “Snow Ruyi” (雪如意 xuě rúyì) because the design of the ski jump resembles a traditional ruyi (如意 rúyì) sceptre – a Chinese talisman  symbolizing power and good fortune in Chinese folklore. 

📅 Events held there: Ski jumping and Nordic combined
📍 Location: Chongli District, Zhangjiakou

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National Cross-Country Skiing Centre

Another newly built venue, the National Cross-Country Skiing Centre (国家越野滑雪中心 guójiā yuèyě huáxuě zhōngxīn) will stage the cross-country skiing competition and co-host the Nordic combined.

📅 Events held there: Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined
📍 Location: Chongli District, Zhangjiakou

National Biathlon Centre

The National Biathlon Centre (国家冬季两项中心 guójiā dōngjì liǎng xiàng zhōngxīn), also known as the “Ice Jade Ring” (冰玉环 bīng yùhuán) due to its design, will host the biathlon event for the Winter Olympics.

📅 Events held there: Biathlon
📍 Location: Chongli District, Zhangjiakou

Genting Snow Park
Beijing-Winter-Olympics

The only venue in the Zhangjiakou Zone not to be bulit specifically for the Beijing Winter Olympics is Genting Snow Park (密苑云顶乐园 mì yuàn yúndǐng lèyuán).

This was an already existing ski resort which has been updated and expanded to host snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

The park consists of two separate venues: Park A for freestyle skiing and Park B for snowboarding.

They feature six courses in total: halfpipe, slope style, ski/snowboard cross, parallel giant slalom, moguls and aerials.

📅 Events held there: Snowboarding and freestyle skiing
📍 Location: Chongli District, Zhangjiakou

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Beijing Winter Olympics – The Schedule

As we already mentioned the Beijing Winter Olympics officially starts with the Opening Ceremony on 4th February, however there are some events such as curling that will be running from 2nd February.

To make it easier to see which are events are when and where, we have split up the events by zone.

Key
✔ Event competitions
❌ No events in this discipline on this day
🏅 Event finals
🎆 Ceremonies

Beijing Zone Events

Event234567891011121314151617181920Event
Ceremonies🎆🎆Ceremonies
Curling🏅🏅🏅🏅Curling
Ice Hockey🏅🏅🏅🏅Ice Hockey
Speed Skating🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Speed Skating
Short Track Skating🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Short Track Skating
Figure Skating🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Figure Skating

Yanging Zone Events

Event234567891011121314151617181920Event
Alpine Skiing🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Alpine Skiing
Bobsleigh🏅🏅🏅🏅Bobsleigh
Skeleton🏅🏅Skeleton
Luge🏅🏅🏅🏅Luge

Zhangjiakou Zones

Event234567891011121314151617181920Event
Ski Jumping🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Ski Jumping
Cross-Country Skiing🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Cross-Country Skiing
Nordic Combined🏅🏅🏅Nordic Combined
Biathlon🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Biathlon

Beijing and Zhangjiakou Zones

Event234567891011121314151617181920Event
Snowboarding🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Snowboarding
Freestyle Skiing🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅Freestyle Skiing

Beijing Winter Olympics – Tickets

On 30th September 2021 it was officially announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that tickets for the Beijing Winter Olympics would only be available to spectators residing in China’s mainland. 

In addition to this spectators will also need to meet various COVID-19 countermeasures.

Some of these measure include being fully vaccinated, having a valid health kit and taking a PCR test before being able to attend events.

It isn’t clear whether “spectators residing in China’s mainland” refers exclusively to Chinese citizens or also includes foreigners with residence permits living in China. According to the official Olympics website ticketing arrangements have still not been finalised.

However, it was confirmed in early 2021 that ticketing would be provided by e-commerce giant Alibaba.

This is the company between the payment platform Alipay and popular shopping app Taobao.

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Beijing Winter Olympics – Winter Olympic Sports in Chinese

Last up on our guide to the Beijing Winter Olympics we have Winter Olympic Sports in Chinese.

Ice hockey – 冰球 bīngqiú, this literally translates to “ice ball” and also refers to the actual puck used in ice hockey as well. If you’re familiar with sports in Chinese you’ll often see that 球 qiú (ball) is added to their names.

Curling – 冰壶 bīng hú, the literal translation of this is “ice kettle”. If you’ve ever seen what the curling stones look like you may well agree that they are similar in shape to a traditional kettle so makes sense!

Sled – 雪橇/冰橇 xuěqiāo/bīng qiāo, sled in Chinese is 橇 qiāo, so there are two different words for it in Chinese either “snow sled” (雪橇 xuěqiāo) or “ice sled” (冰橇 bīng qiāo).

Here are the three different sled related winter sports in Chinese:

  • Luge – 无舵雪橇 wú duò xuěqiāo
  • Bobsleigh – 有舵雪橇 yǒu duò xuěqiāo
  • Skeleton – 俯式冰橇 fǔ shì bīng qiāo

Ice skating – 滑冰 huábīng, this literally translates to “slide ice”, again with many Chinese words this really makes sense when you think about it!

Now, let’s have a look at the three different ice skating Winter Olympic events in Chinese:

  • Speed skating 速度滑冰 sùdù huábīng
  • Short track speed skating 短道速滑 duǎn dào sù huá
  • Figure skating 花样滑冰 huāyàng huábīng

Skiing – 滑雪 huáxuě, just before we saw that ice skating was literally “slide ice” so do you have any guesses for what skiing literally means? Skiing is literally “slide snow”! But let’s see what the specific skiing events are called:

  • Cross-country skiing – 越野滑雪 yuèyě huáxuě
  • Ski jumping – 跳台滑雪 tiàotái huáxuě
  • Nordic combined – 北欧两项 běi’ōu liǎng xiàng
  • Alpine skiing – 高山滑雪 gāoshān huáxuě
  • Freestyle skiing – 自由式滑雪 zìyóu shì huáxuě
  • Snowboarding – 单板滑雪 dān bǎn huáxuě
  • Biathlon – 冬季两项 dōngjì liǎng xiàng

And that brings an end to our complete guide to the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Will you be watching the Winter Olympics? What’s your favourite Winter Olympics sport to watch?

Let us know in the comments below.

Beijing Winter Olympics – FAQs

When are the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics?

The Beijing Winter Olympics start on 4th February 2022 and run until 20th February.

Are the Beijing Winter Olympics happening?

Yes, the Beijing Winter Olympics are still scheduled to go ahead as planned.

Are the Beijing Winter Olympics all happening in Beijing?

No, there are three venue “zones” where events will be held, two of these are within Beijing and the other is in neighbouring Hebei Province in an area called Zhangjiakou.

How many events are happening at the Beijing Winter Olympics?

There are a total number of 109 events happening at the Beijing Winter Olympics which is a record number of events.

Is Beijing the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics?

Yes, Beijing is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

How do you say Winter Olympics in Chinese?

Winter Olympics in Chinese is 冬季奥林匹克运动会 dōngjì àolínpǐkè yùndònghuì.

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    […] The first part of Line 11 opened up on December 31st 2021. The part that opened is the western section and is also referred to as the “Winter Olympic Branch Line”. This is because the line runs close to Big Air Shougang, one of the new venues for the Winter Olympics. […]