On February 3, it was learned from the Beijing Major Projects Office that on the eve of the one-year countdown to the opening of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, all competition venues in the Beijing and Yanqing competition zones had completed the first ice and snow production and met test competition conditions.

Ding Jianming, deputy director of the Beijing Major Project Office, said the first ice-making of Asia's largest ice surface at the National Speed Skating Oval was completed; the latest and most environmentally-friendly carbon dioxide ice-making was completed for the first time in Olympic history; and the tracks at the National Alpine Skiing Center and the National Sliding Center in Yanqing Zone successfully passed international certification. Ding said that it is a sign that the preparation of the Beijing Winter Olympics has moved from the construction stage to the test and operation stage.

The curling track in the "Ice Cube", or the National Aquatics Center, is completed.

Photo courtesy: Beijing Major Project Office

The ice surfaces of six competition venues in the Beijing competition zone were unveiled collectively, and all were made from carbon dioxide. All ice competition venues used environmentally friendly refrigerants to make ice. Compared with traditional ice-making technology, carbon dioxide ice-making is safe and energy-saving, its temperature control is accurate, and emissions are almost close to zero. With the completion of ice-making in these competition venues, Beijing has become the first host city in the history of the Winter Olympics to use a new type of environmentally-friendly refrigerant to make ice on a large scale.

"Ice Ribbon", the National Speed Skating Oval, has the biggest ice surface in Asia.

Photo courtesy: Beijing Major Project Office

The Yanqing competition zone has fully completed ice making and snow making, and various test activities will be launched soon. It has built a total of 4 venues: two competition venues which are the National Alpine Skiing Center and the National Sliding Center, and two non-competition venues which are the Yanqing Olympic Village and the Yanqing Mountain Media Center.

The National Alpine Skiing Center has a total of 7 tracks, and has the first domestic alpine ski track that meets Olympic standards. It is also one of the most difficult competition venues in the world.

The National Sliding Center has adopted the world's top track design. The stadium completed the ice making work in September 2020 and obtained certification from International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) and International Luge Federation (FIL).

In addition, eight non-competition venues, including the project in the National Stadium, or the "Bird's Nest", which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Winter Paralympics, the second phase of the National Convention Center which is the main media center, and the Beijing Awards Plaza, will also be completed this year.

Moreover, it is also learned that the Beijing Winter Olympics has started to use wind and solar power from Zhangjiakou. The Beijing Winter Olympics will become the first in Olympic history that completely uses green and clean electricity, and Beijing has also become the first host city that uses the most energy-saving CO2 ice-making technology with near-zero emissions.