Skiing fever ignites China's spring festival

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic venue Chongli has received over 530,000 tourists, four times more than its local residents, during last week's Chinese lunar New Year holiday, authorities said on Monday.

Chongli, a small county in Zhangjiakou city about 200 km northwest of Beijing, will stage most of the skiing events of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Xinhua reported.

The ski resort has earned over 400 million yuan ($61 million) in tourism income last week for 26.1 percent growth over the same period last year.

Besides Chongli, Beijing held mass ice and snow carnivals, drawing 84,000 participants.

In Xinjiang Uygur region, which has just held the 13th Chinese National Winter Games last month, ice and snow festivals were held.

"We have received 33,000 tourists during last week, marking a 20 percent growth over the same period last year," said Huang He, marketing director of Silk Road international ski resort.

"Ski fans all over the country choose to spend their Spring Festival in a new way," Huang added.