China News Service, Beijing, February 5 (Hao Lingyu Guoxuan) February 4 is the Chinese New Year, and it also coincides with the second anniversary of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. At the recently upgraded and reopened Beijing Olympic Museum, an exhibition of Olympic cultural works is officially open to the public. With hundreds of works on display, the intersection between China and the Olympics becomes more tangible.
At the opening ceremony, two-time Winter Olympic champion and Chinese short track speed skating star Wu Dajing donated the competition uniforms for the men's and women's short track speed skating 2000-meter mixed relay that won the first gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics. He said that each exhibit bears witness to an era and a precious memory. The opening of the Beijing Olympic Museum to the public will allow more people to see the beautiful moments left by the Olympics and gain an in-depth understanding of the Olympic legacy.
During the Beginning of Spring two years ago, the story of a snowflake kicked off the Beijing Winter Olympics. Today, this ice and snow event is engraved deep in people's memories and has become a cultural mark. People have also written new stories with the Winter Olympics as the core.
The Beijing Winter Olympics mascot "Bing Dundun" has a new incarnation - "Long Dundun", which has become a realistic carrier for people to continue their love for the Winter Olympics and once again aroused people's enthusiasm for purchasing. At the Beijing Olympic Museum, a visitor said that as a Spring Festival gift, "Long Dundun" is suitable for friends who love skiing: "This is our common Winter Olympics memory and can once again arouse our passion for the Winter Olympics."
In the second ice and snow season after the Beijing Winter Olympics, the popularity of ice and snow sports continues to increase in China. Data from multiple platforms show that starting from November 2023, the search popularity of keywords such as "skiing" has increased significantly. Not only in northern regions such as Xinjiang, Northeast China, and Inner Mongolia, but also in southern provinces such as Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Guangdong, indoor ski resorts are often full.
Taking Beijing as an example, Ge Jun, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau, once said that after the Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing has carried out more than 9,000 online and offline events, with more than 10 million participants, a "cold resource" for the ice and snow industry. is transforming into a "hot economy".
This winter, China's ice and snow tourism is booming, and the ice city of Harbin has attracted tens of thousands of tourists vying to "check in". Wu Dajing, a native of Heilongjiang, said that in the post-Winter Olympics era, the explosion of ice and snow tourism is inevitable. He believes that as people's demand for ice and snow increases, this explosion will continue.
The popularization and promotion of mass ice and snow has also injected new impetus into the improvement of the level of ice and snow competition. Many ice and snow athletes such as Wu Dajing have a common feeling: the "ice and snow fever" after the Beijing Winter Olympics is much higher than in previous years, public participation and attention have increased, the reserve talent force of ice and snow sports has been significantly improved, and the level of ice and snow competition has also improved. Significantly improved.
In 2023, International Olympic Committee President Bach highly praised the fruitful results achieved in the utilization of the heritage of the Beijing Winter Olympics at the International Olympic Committee Plenary Session, and hoped that the Winter Olympics heritage can continue to benefit the Chinese people. In 2024, he sent a message to China, pointing out that the upcoming Paris Olympics can learn from the successful Beijing Winter Olympics in many ways.
In Bach's view, the upgraded Beijing Olympic Museum is a shining example of the living legacy of the Beijing Olympics and will inspire every visitor with eternal Olympic values. For the Chinese people, the Beijing Olympic Museum will become one of the epitome of China's relationship with the Olympics, and people will continue to write the story of the Winter Olympics in China with their actions. (over)