3 . Two years ago, Beijing became the first city ever to hold both Summer and Winter Olympic Games after winning the 2022 Winter Olympics bid with co-host city Zhangjiakou, bringing snow and ice sports into public spotlight. Now, let’s take a look at some of the most popular events in the Winter Olympic Games.

Figure skating

Figure skating is one of the most popular sports at the Winter Olympics, in which ice skaters, singly or in pairs, perform freestyle movements of jumps, spins, lifts, and footwork in a graceful manner. The figure skating competition is one of the fiercest at the Winter Olympics — one slight error, and a competitor’s chance of a medal goes up in smoke. To win the game, the skater has to be flawless.

Curling

Curling is one of the most unique sports at the Winter Olympics — a winter sport played by two teams of four players on a rectangular sheet of ice. The two teams take turns to slide (滑动) large round flat stones towards a target. Members of each team use brooms to sweep the surface of the ice in the path of the stone to control its speed and direction.And while curling may be a “slow” sport, it’s still full of skill, suspense and excitement!

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is a popular winter sport that involves sliding downhill on snow with a snowboard firmly attached to a rider's feet. The sport is said to have been inspired by surfing, skiing and skateboarding, as an alternative to alpine skiing (高山滑雪).While snowboarding is one of the newer events — first included at the 1998 Winter Olympics, it has become one of the most popular and exciting sports at the Winter Olympics.

Ice hockey

Ice hockey is a game between two teams who wear skates and compete on an ice rink (溜冰场). Each team usually has six players. The object is to push the puck (冰球) past a goal line and into a net guarded by a goalkeeper. Ice hockey is popular for its speed and frequent physical contact. Worldwide there are more than a million registered Ice hockey players performing regularly in leagues.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games sent a thank-you letter to volunteer applicants who were not     1    (previous) selected, and expressed gratitude for their support in the preparation work of the Games.

The letter says the COVID-19 pandemic has brought great challenges to many aspects of the preparation work, and the committee     2     (adjust) requirements for volunteers in     3    (consider) of virus control and prevention.

"    4     you were not selected as a volunteer of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, every applicant is an excellent promoter for the Olympic spirit and volunteerism," the committee says in the letter.

Many applicants said they     5     (move) by the touching letter and posted their replies online. A netizen (网民)     6     (name) Joleen-kun said their application had been seen, which was something to be proud     7     as they were respected by the committee.

Another netizen Xiguali commented that their enthusiasm has been respected and the committee is warm to pay attention to details, thus     8     (send) a letter like this.

According to the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee, more than 1 million people applied to serve as volunteers and nearly 20,000 were selected, most of     9     are from colleges and     10    (university) in Beijing and Hebei Province.

With just one month to go to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the excitement is growing among winter sports athletes and    1    (fan) from around the world．

Thousands    2    the world’s best winter sports athletes will gather in Beijing as well as Zhangjiakou    3    (compete) for 109 gold medals to fulfill their Olympic dreams．

The Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is    4    event of great significance for China. For all people in China, a strong sense of responsibility, mission(使命) and urgency(紧迫)    5    (need) during the preparation work.

Organizers of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games have showed a menu of 678 dishes during the Games to athletes from different    6    (culture) backgrounds. As the 2022 Winter Olympics meet with China’s Spring Festival, it will be    7    (interest) for the global athletes to     8    (full) enjoy Chinese food.

A giant panda named Bing Dwen Dwen(冰墩墩) is the official mascot of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. “Bing”    9    (mean) ice and also symbolize(象征) purity and strength, and “Dwen Dwen” represents children. The mascot contains the strength and willpower(意志力) of athletes,    10    will help to promote the Olympic spirit.

6 . Beijing set a target to hold “high-tech Winter Games” after it won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Soon after, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology was made the leading party to provide technical support for the Games. In collaboration with relevant parties, it drew up the “Action Plan for Science and Technology at the Winter Olympics,” the results of which were applied in this year’s test events.

“During the test events in February and April this year, we tested and applied 133 types of techs in a number of key areas. Since October, another 228 pieces of technologies have been tested and applied in test events, athlete training schedules and prep work for the winter games,” said Wu Yuanbin, director of the ministry’s Social Scientific Development Department, during a press conference.

For the Games next year, high-tech will be applied for four proposes: support COVID-19 measures, reduce carbon emissions, ensure the safety of the events and create a better viewing experience for the viewers. To achieve these results, a number of new and experimental techs will be used, including 5G and hydrogen vehicles.

“The much-anticipated 5G signals will cover all venues, including the roads that connect them. This will provide network connectivity for applications such as ultra-high-definition video and smart services. Eighty hydrogen vehicles were tested in Zhangjiakou. And during the Winter Games, more than 700 hydrogen buses will be stationed in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou to provide transportation,” said Yu Hong, director of the Technical Department of Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.

The target of hosting high-tech Olympics isn’t just for the convenience of thousands of participants during this event. The organizing committee once said they wish to use the Games as an experimental model that could help the world build future smart cities that would benefit residents, industries and the environment.

7 . As the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are just around the corner. The emblem(会徽) and pins have attracted attention from people around the world.

The inspiration of the emblem design comes from the Chinese character for winter-“冬”. A calligraphic rendition of the Chinese character, which infuses Chinese culture with contemporary artistic elements, projects a new image of China in a new era, demonstrating the country’s commitment to a successful Winter Games. The upper part of the emblem resembles a skater and its lower part a skier. The ribbon in between, full of rhythm, stands for the host country’s rolling mountains, games venues, ski courses and skating tracks. The ribbons give a touch of festivity and are an indication that the Games coincide with the celebrations of the Chinese New Year.

Unlike some designs for other sport games or festivals in the country, the upcoming Winter Olympics pins combine traditional Chinese culture and modern aesthetics. People think the style of the collection is unique and romantic. Particularly, some limited editions, such as a series of four inspired by ancient Chinese fairy tales, quickly sold out. If collectors get all pins in the series, they can piece them together in a shape of a big “0”, indicating the wait is over and kicking off the Winter Games. Moreover, the series of ancient myth pins include elements of Chinese fairy tales in their design. They vividly show images of Nuwa fixing the sky and Kuafu chasing the sun. Only 2.022 of each fairy tale pin were produced. Other pin pattens include traditional games, for example, the ancient Chinese ball game, cuju. Ice play, an old sport in North China, is also displayed on a single pin.

As the host of the 2022 Games, Beijing has told its own stories to the world through the emblem and colorful pins, designed to welcome athletes and audiences from home and abroad.

The official medals of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were displayed on October 26^th. The organizing committee introduced the medals—called tong xin,     1     means togetherness that day.

The medals are inspired by yu bi, a Chinese jade artifact     2     (date) back 5,000 years. A total of five of this kind of jade     3     (unearth) from a tomb up to now.

Each medal has carvings of the Olympic rings on one side. The rings represent the pursuit of unity and harmony, and they also represent the Olympic     4     (value) of solidarity and inclusiveness. Carvings of cloud patterns,     5     element used on the torch of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, snowflakes and ice markings fill the outer rings. The     6     side of the medals has the Beijing 2022 emblem at the center.     7     (visual), it looks quite plain at first glance, while details such as the carving of clouds and snowflake patterns as well as the uneven surface have made it     8     (special) than expected, according to the committee.

Gaining     9     (inspire) from jade for a second time honors the Chinese capital’s unique position as the first city     10    （host) the Summer and Winter Olympics.