Why can Beijing become a “double Olympic city”?

The 2022 Winter Olympics is in full swing, and Beijing has become the first city in history to host both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. Why did Beijing win the title of "Double Olympic City"? What are the geographical factors and advantages behind it?

Sike analyzes the climate and geographical factors of Beijing and its surrounding areas to showcase the unique charm of this city.

▲Diagram of the distribution of competition areas for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Suitable climate

Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics has strict climate requirements. Looking through the venues of previous Winter Olympics, we found that these cities are basically located between 40 degrees north latitude and 70 degrees north latitude, and the venue is generally held in February. The temperature of -17℃-10℃ is the ideal temperature for the Winter Olympics.

Beijing’s ability to become a “dual Olympic city” that hosts both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics is determined by Beijing’s climate characteristics.

Beijing's geographical latitude is about 40 degrees north latitude, which is a typical temperate monsoon climate zone. Its climate features hot and rainy summers, cold and dry winters, and four distinct seasons. Therefore, from the perspective of Olympic events, both summer and winter events are suitable for being held in Beijing in winter and summer.

Topographical advantages

Winter Olympic snow sports have strict requirements on natural geographical conditions. For example, alpine skiing, bobsleigh, and snowmobile require a large height difference. For example, the distance of the alpine skiing track is generally about 3,000 meters, but it requires a height difference of 800 to 1,000 meters. Therefore, such events are often held in mountains.

▲The picture is a schematic diagram drawn with reference to the competition venues of the 23rd Winter Olympics.

The Yanqing competition zone is located in the Xiaohaituo mountain area of ​​Yanqing District in the northwest of Beijing. Taking into account the favorable terrain conditions of Yanqing Xiaohaituo, it will independently host the alpine skiing events of this Winter Olympics.

The alpine skiing competition venue in the Beijing Yanqing competition zone has a total of 7 ski slopes, which are planned and built based on the natural mountain shape of Xiaohaituo Mountain. The total length is 21 kilometers, with a drop of about 900 meters and a slope length of more than 3,000 meters. Natural "rocks" are the main elements of the track. This feature and the difficulty of the track itself will establish the Yanqing Haituo Mountain downhill track's position in the world's alpine tracks.

▲The four major venues in the Yanqing competition zone of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Source: Jilin No. 1

In addition to the Beijing and Yanqing competition zones, the Zhangjiakou competition zone, as one of the three major competition zones of the Beijing Winter Olympics, hosts most of the snow events. The National Ski Jumping Center "Xue Ruyi" is located in the arms of the mountains, echoing the "Bing Yuhuan" and the ice and snow town, and together witnessing this ice and snow feast.

▲The night view of Chongli Winter Olympic Center produced using domestic satellite data.

The suitable climatic conditions and natural geographical advantages make Beijing and its surrounding cities a "natural ice and snow field" that opens its arms to witness and look forward to the athletes showing their skills.

Xinhua News Agency Satellite News Laboratory

Xinhuanet Sike

Xinhuanet 5G Rich Media Laboratory

Co-production

Planning: Liu Juan

Producer: Li Xiaoyun

Editor: Guo Jianwei Qi Lijun

Satellite Technology: Jia Bowen

Chen Fu, Associate Researcher, Institute of Space Information Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Map: Li Quan

Proofreading: Cui Yicong

Satellite technical support unit:

Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd.

China Science and Technology Star Map Co., Ltd.

Satellite data sources:

Jilin No.1