Skiers ride a "magic carpet" to get on top of a resort to enjoy the sport in Qingzhou, East China's Shandong Province, on January 29, 2022. Photo: VCG

With the countdown ticking down toward the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics  coinciding with the Spring Festival holidays, people across the country from North to South have become immersed in passion for the ice, snow sports.

The upcoming event, set to make Beijing the first city ever to host both Summer and Winter Olympics, is fueling a winter sports spending boom during China's biggest festival, as evidenced by strong data.

During the first two days of the 7-day holidays, players both in the capital city Beijing and Northeast China told the Global Times they are witnessing a boom in tourists sector , and the number is almost double than in 2021. 

Hosting city Beijing has become the epicenter of the snow crush. According to a statement domestic online travel platform Lvmama sent to the Global Times, there have been plans among young travelers to spend multiple days, or a big part of their Spring Festival holidays, in ski resorts. 

"There are about 6,000 or 7,000 people in the Nanshan during daytime and 3,000 people at night, double the level of last year," according to a coach at the Nanshan Ski Resort in Beijing.

A visitor on Tuesday told the Global Times that she saw an obvious increase of visitors flow and "people of all ages are everywhere in the resort."

"I didn't expect so many people here during the first day of festival," said the person, attributing the scene to the soon-to-come Winter Olympics, which has ignited a nationwide passion for snow sports.

A similar situation is also unfolding in Northeast China at the Tiandingshan Ski Resort in Changchun. A manager surnamed Du at the resort told the Global Times on Tuesday that the Winter Olympics in Beijing surely fueled the enthusiasm of the Chinese public for the ice sports. 

Changchun is located at the center of the three provinces in Northeast China, and the city has been a transportation hub for visitors to other major ski resorts such as those in Changbai Mountain.

"We see more youngsters skiing recently, and this year's holiday peak visits would reach an unprecedented level," Du said, noting that the overall number of visitors is expected to grow 80 percent on year-on-year basis. 

South China's Guangdong, located in the tropical and subtropical climate zone, is also going through "ice and snow fever." 

The scarcity of natural ice and snow resources has aroused the enthusiasm of the southern Chinese for ice and snow sports. At present, whether it is competitive sports or recreation, Guangdong ice and snow sports have reached a new level, according to a report from Guangzhou Daily on Monday.

There are about 20 indoor ice and snow venues in South China's Guangdong Province, with a total area of about 120,000 square meters. At present, there are eight professional ice and snow coaches, more than 60 amateur coaches, about 50 social sports instructors, and about 70 ice and snow referees in the province, data from the Guangdong Ice and Snow Sports Association showed.

By 2025, the country's ice and snow sports are expected to become a mainstream winter activity, with the population taking a direct part in winter sports including athletes, coaches and referees topping 50 million, per the country's winter sports development plan (2016-25) unveiled by the National Development and Reform Commission, the General Administration of Sport of China, among other government departments. 

The country has also set a goal of engaging 300 million people in winter sports.