Amid the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the 45 ice and snow sports venues in Jiangsu Province have gained popularity. 

At the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center on the afternoon of February 9, young people queued up for entrance to try skating and occasionally the reception staff urged them to be patient. 

Yuan Jun, a manager of the Ice Sports Club at the center, said there are about 600-800 visitors every day during the Spring Festival holiday, an increase of 100% over the same period last year. 

The club opened in 2005 and boasts an indoor ice rink of 1,800 sqm, the largest in Nanjing. Most of the visitors this year have no previous experience of skating, but they are eager to give it a try primarily due to the Winter Olympics.  

The Ancient Canal Ski Resort, located in Matou Town of Huai’an City, also saw the number of visitors increase by 30% compared with pre-pandemic level. Zhao Shihe, head of the resort’s operating company, said most of the visitors are from Huai’an and other cities in the province.   

Yancheng, Xuzhou and Xuyi also have ski resorts built in accordance with local environment and cultural heritage. Such venues have allowed residents of Jiangsu to also enjoy the atmosphere of Beijing 2022 and stimulated consumer spending too.   

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