After winning the bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Zhangjiakou has seen an increase in the number of tourists to the area via the scenic grassland route along the Zhangbei Highway. Photo: IC

As the car made its way from Zhangbei to Chongli in Hebei Province, Cui Tianti was unable to take her eyes off the beautiful scenery. The green grassland shimmered under the sun as cows grazed in it. As she approached Chongli, the county which will host the snow sports for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the landscape gradually changed from grassland to forest.

"It's an incredible combination of grassland and forest. The view is so natural and peaceful which made me feel like I was in Europe," said Cui, 26, a civil servant in Beijing.

Cui was traveling on the Zhangbei Highway, also known as Caoyuan Tianlu (grassland sky road).

The road has been compared to Route 66 in the US, which extends from Chicago to California, and is well-known for its picturesque scenery. 

"My friends and I did not expect to see so many tourists there. In the past, there were not many cars and we could drive fast. But that day, we drove very slowly because of the heavy traffic. I think they were attracted by the announcement of Beijing and Zhangjiakou as the host cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics," said Cui.

Although the best season for experiencing this area is in winter, there are already an increasing number of tourists like Cui who have gone on a Winter Olympic-themed tour, following the July 31 announcement of the host cities.

"The Zhangbei Highway is among the Olympic-themed tourism recommendations. And it did not disappoint me. I would come back again to ski in Chongli in winter and also visit the venues in Beijing where the Winter Olympics will be held," said Cui.

Chongli, one of the main Olympic venues for skiing, is a resort frequented by the sport's enthusiasts. Photo: IC

 

Some of the Beijing 2008 Olympics venues such as Bird's Nest and Water Cube, will be renovated for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Photo: CFP

New tourism market

On August 17, a specially designed tourist train left Beijing for Zhangjiakou. The train, which leaves from the Beijing West Railway Station, is part of a trial run to develop tourism to the area. Over 500 people took the train on the first day, reported the Zhangjiakou Evening News.

Yu Shuhua, deputy manager of the China Railway Tourism Agency, said in the report that it usually takes more than two months to recruit tourists to take a tourist train. But in this case, the train was booked out in about 10 days.

Tourists who sign up for the train trip will enjoy a three-day stay in Zhangjiakou, where they will visit places like the Zhangbei Highway, the grasslands, and Anjiagou, which is an ecological tourist zone with lakes and mountains and is well-known for its well-preserved natural scenery.

Web searches for Winter Olympic-themed tours yield dozens of results on travel agencies like tuniu.com and Ctrip. Many tourists have already pre-booked their winter tours for November and December. In Beijing, venues like the National Stadium (Bird's Nest), the National Aquatics Center (Water Cube), and the MasterCard Center, are listed in the package.

Dun Jidong, a senior product manager at Ctrip, told Metropolitan that they have seen an increasing number of tourists booking tours themed around the Winter Olympics. 

"As more venues and infrastructure are built in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, more travel packages will be launched and the market will see a great influx of travelers," said Dun.

Getting into the vibe

Dun pointed out that so far the two popular activities for Winter Olympic-themed tours to Zhangjiakou are winter skiing trips and nature travel.

Winter skiing trips are mainly in Chongli county, where the Wanlong Ski Resort and the Ice and Show Museum are located. Nature travel is popular along the Zhangbei Highway, connecting Chongli and Zhangbei.

He noted that in Beijing, there are no current Winter Olympic-themed trips as most 2022 Olympic venues have not yet been completed. But as more venues are renovated and transformed from the 2008 Olympic venues, such as turning the MasterCard Center into an ice hockey venue, more trips will be launched in the capital to satisfy increasing needs.

Though the Winter Olympics is still seven years away, Deng Lin, a 30-year-old ski enthusiast and travel lover from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, just can't wait to try out one of the future Olympic venues.

This December, she will travel to the ski resorts in Beijing and Chongli for two to three months as she usually does.

"But the feeling [while skiing in Beijing and Chongli] might be different this time. Before we won the bid for the Winter Olympics, we skiing lovers had to go abroad to watch the Winter Olympics, but now it will be more convenient and we can save a lot of money watching the performances of our favorite skiers here at home," said Deng, general manager of an outdoor activities company.

Deng's favorite skiing events are free-style skiing - an Olympic sport, and ski mountaineering, which was an Olympic sport but has since been scrapped.

She recalled that when she jumped and twisted her body in the air at the Wanlong Ski Resort in Chongli last year, she imagined that she was an Olympian. 

"The ski resorts in Chongli are much larger in size with longer tracks than others I have been to. It just reminded me what the competitors will actually be doing," said Deng, who can't forget this exciting experience.

Deng thinks that as the Winter Olympics approaches, places where the Olympic venues are located, such as Chongli and Yanqing county in Beijing, will attract more and more snow sports enthusiasts like her, as the tracks will be improved a lot.

She said thanks to the impetus of the Winter Olympics, it will take seven years for the snow sports industry to grow in China.

But Deng is concerned about one thing. "I heard that one venue will be built in a nature reserve in Zhangjiakou. I think that is not appropriate. The local policy-makers should consider environment protection before taking a decision to construct venues," said Deng.

Developing the brand

Wang Xiao, 22, a college student, told Metropolitan that on the day the bid was announced, she was in Chongli where many tourists from all over the world had already gathered.

Although there is huge economic interest in Winter Olympic tourism, Wang is worried this may harm the local environment.

"There are too many tourists visiting the city and ski resorts. Every tourist attraction I went to was crowded with people, making it harder for me to appreciate the beauty of the sites. I hope government can strike a balance between the environment and the economy, Wang said, whose hometown is Zhangjiakou.

Xu Xiaolei, Chief Brand Officer of aoyou.com, a Chinese travel agency, told Metropolitan that Olympic-themed tourism is not very well developed now.

"One of the main problems facing the tourism market is that the places involved in the Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou have not yet been branded. And the local infrastructure and services such as transportation, need to be improved a lot first," said Xu.

Xu said that since May, almost every weekend, there's a traffic jam on the highway.

"It turned out that people wanting to see the picturesque grasslands were just traveling there to see lines of cars. Establishing the brand to attract people to the area is just the first step, but follow-up service is more important. As the Winter Olympics approaches, except for marketing the brand, the city also needs to improve its tourism services for travelers to have a better experience," said Xu.

According to Xu, of all the Winter Olympics destinations, Chongli will become the most important one. It will be the venue of all the Olympic biathlon and skiing events with the exception of alpine skiing.

Xu proposed making the destinations attractive in summer too.

"I think the local tourism planners should also consider how to transform the destinations for summer travel when there is no snow and ice. It would be a good destination to escape from the smog in Beijing or to avoid the summer heat," said Xu.

"They should not start thinking about it after the games are finished. Then it will be too late and be a waste of resources," said Xu.