When most people think of Beijing, it’s hard to imagine “Winter Sports Destination” crossing anyone’s mind. And that’s because the Chinese capital rarely has significant snowfall, especially in the dry month of February where average temperatures are around 40 degrees.
So, why would Beijing get awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics? That’s a great question and has a lot to do with Oslo withdrawing from consideration. But let’s get back to the weather.
The average February snowfall for Beijing is less than an inch, so many of the outdoor events will take place a couple hours away from Beijing in Zhangjiakou. And the snow you’ll see on those mountains will be almost entirely artificial snow.
Aesthetically, it makes for an odd scene at a Winter Games: Ski events taking place with a backdrop of barren, dry mountains. But fake snow has its environmental concerns as well, via Quartz:
The climate in Zhangjiakou, 100 miles from Beijing, is cold, but dry. For the last four decades it has averaged a scant 7.9 mm of precipitation each winter. China’s bid for the Winter Olympics had always hinged on an army of snow machines.
China’s bid estimated that they would need 49 million gallons of water to blanket the Olympic slopes in snow. However, a geographer interviewed by Bloomberg, estimated that the country could divert as much as 2 million cubic meters (528 million gallons) of water to snow-making, further straining one of the most water-stressed regions in the country.
Fake snow can often be icier than natural snowfall, as well, so we’ll have to see if the difference noticeably impacts the competition.
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