The ice and snow town changed by the Winter Olympics
In the early spring of Chongli, it snowed again, and the town was covered in silver everywhere.
Zhao Chunxin and Shan Dongmei passed by the ski sculpture, parked in the snow, took a few photos, and sent them to their daughter who was studying in the field.
People in Chongli cannot do without snow. Snow brought the Winter Olympics, new jobs, and a good life.
In July 2015, Beijing joined hands with Zhangjiakou to obtain the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, making Chongli, a small town originally only patronized by ski enthusiasts, a real break and quickly become a hot spot for tourism and investment.
Beksul became "Platinum"
"Before we were afraid of snow. The road was closed when the snow hits the mountain and the city could not be entered." As a villager in Yingcha Village, Sitaizui Township, Chongli District, 55-year-old Zhao Chunxin never thought that Baixue, who was accustomed to it, has now become The "Platinum" that leads Chongli's economic development.
Chongli District (formerly Chongli County) is located in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. Before becoming the site of the 2022 Winter Olympics skiing project, this small northern city more than 200 kilometers away from Beijing is still a national-level impoverished county.
This is such a poor county, in the eyes of professionals, it is one of the most ideal areas for the development of the ski industry in China.
The average temperature in winter in Chongli is -12°C, with early snowfall, thick snow cover, and long snow storage period. The accumulated snow cover is about 1 meter, and the mountain slope is moderate.
From the "Saibei Ski Resort", the first private ski resort in China in the 1990s, to the "Yunting Ski Resort" and "Taiwu Ski Resort" located in the core area of the Winter Olympics, Chongli has 7 large-scale ski resorts. The stadiums form the largest ski resort cluster in the country.
The deep cultivation and development of the ski industry has laid a solid foundation for the Chongli 2022 Winter Olympics snow event competition site.
Zhangjiakou plans to build a large ski area with Chongli as the center and radiating the surrounding areas by 2025, with 30 ski resorts, 600 ski trails 500 kilometers, and more than 20 ice and snow characteristic towns. By then, it will be able to meet 20 million ice and snow every year. Sports needs.
From "Going to Beijing" to Returning to Chongli
Zhao Chunxin went out to work when he was more than 10 years old.
It is difficult to find a suitable job in Chongli, so he can only go to Beijing. He has worked on construction sites in Beijing and ran transportation.
Chongli people call going to Beijing "Xia Beijing".
Before the opening of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed rail, Chongli people "getting to Beijing" was a troublesome thing. Every time they went to Beijing, they had to toss all day on the road.
In 2018, seeing the rapid development of Chongli, Zhao Chunxin, who had worked hard outside for many years, returned to his hometown with his wife, Shan Dongmei, and achieved employment at home.
Today, Zhao Chunxin’s family of six, and three of them work related to the Winter Olympics: Zhao Chunxin works as a security guard at the Chongli Prince City construction site in the core area of the Winter Olympics, and his wife, Shan Dongmei, works as a cleaning house in the snow field. The winter break is over. , Zhao Chunxin's son will also return to the Winter Olympics site to transport earthwork.
Their village has also been demolished, and many people in the village bought new houses in the city with the demolition money, and Zhao Chunxin's family is no exception.
"If there were no Winter Olympics, I might still be wandering outside, and now I can do the work at my doorstep." Zhao Chunxin said: "When I retire, I will be able to get a pension. As long as I work hard, I don't have to worry about it in Chongli. Work."
The Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed rail was opened at the end of 2019, and the Prince City Station is at the gate of the town of Chongli Prince City where Zhao Chunxin works. He is most happy that his daughter can go home easily from university: "Daughter is studying in Dalian. When there was no high-speed rail before, I came back. It has to be a day and a night. Now we start from Dalian in the morning and get home at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It's fast and convenient."
Every winter vacation, Zhao Chunxin and his wife will take their daughter to ski in the snow field.
The couple had never skied through the snow, and they smiled with satisfaction as they watched their daughter galloping down the slide.
Benefiting from the Winter Olympics, the work and life of Chongli people ushered in a turning point.
On May 5, 2019, Chongli achieved poverty alleviation.
According to statistics, in the year when Chongli left the poverty-stricken counties, Chongli directly or indirectly engaged in the ice and snow industry and tourism service personnel reached more than 30,000, including more than 9,000 poor people in the past.
Beijing News reporter Zheng Xinqia's photo report