The National Speed Skating Oval, one of the flagship venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, hosted its first visitors this week. Over 100 reporters from 82 countries paid a visit to Beijing's Olympic Center. With overall construction and preparations scheduled to be finished by the end of this year, reporters said they had high expectations for the 2022 event.
"China has been doing great with regards to pulling off great tasks and holding such big games. And I think, yeah, it will live up to our expectations," said Hussainy Seddiq with the Afghanistan Times.
"The 2022 Winter Olympics event will be more successful than 2008 because it's obvious that the Chinese can do this," added Abate Aweke Getahun, a sports reporter for Ethiopia News Agency.
The National Speed Skating Oval is one of the flagship venues for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. It is scheduled to finish construction by the end of this year. /CGTN Photo
Besides touring venues, reporters also had the chance to experience things like 5G and driverless cars. After tours of China Mobile and car manufacturing company Foton, many were excited to see and experience the country's latest tech.
"Anybody here today can see that China for sure is one of the leading powers in the 5G industry," said Verdelli Andrea, a photographer at Getty Images. "So far what I knew was driverless cars or faster communication. But actually there's a lot of applications that we don't know... So really, I think applications go far beyond what we know so far."
"Though global competition is fierce, China is on the leading edge. Its applications for driverless cars and the industrial Internet of Things are astounding," said Huang Yuanyuan, reporter from Eastern Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
A testing autonomous vehicle by Foton. /CGTN Photo
Some reporters had never taken a hands-free ride until now, like Takahashi Hirotomo, a Japanese reporter for Fuji Television Network.
"I have never tried a driverless car, even in Japan... I know that in Japan there is a lot of research going on (in this field). It seems that the technology is advanced in China. I'm curious how fast China can take this from testing to practice."
On the second half of their trip, the visiting reporters will take a look at China's latest in transportation development and cultural heritage protection.