Spring Festival Holiday: Celebrating with sports

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Winter sports are growing in popularity among people in northeastern China spending the Spring Festival holiday with family and friends. CGTN's Guan Yang tells us more from Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province.

GUAN YANG SHENYANG, LIAONING PROVINCE "Happy Lunar New Year! There is always a long list of things to do during the Spring Festival holiday. In China's frozen northeast, the holiday here begins with a full range of festivities: skiing, ice skating, hot spring bathing, and of course winter swimming for those who prefer a refreshing dip in the icy water."

With the temperature dropping and ski areas opening all over China's frozen northeast, it is the time to ski at the mountain resorts for the day and then soak your tired muscles in the Hot Springs Pool. Convenience, affordability and fun are the three elements which make this the best reason to join the great winter sport during the spring festival holiday.

Covered by thick snow in winter, there is a string of active ski resorts with different levels of ski runs for both beginners and professionals. In addition, there are also a number of activities like sledding, ice hockey, and ice-cycling.

You can just feel the boom in China's skating and ski industry after Beijing and Zhangjiakou successfully bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the total size of the national winter sports industry by 2020 will reach 600 billion yuan, skyrocketing to one trillion yuan by 2022.

The Winter Olympics has also put winter sports development on a fast track, with more public interest and government support. While the Spring Festival centers on gatherings of family and friends, more people across the country are taking part in winter activities like these to celebrate the most precious holiday break of the year. GUAN YANG, CGTN, LIAONING PROVINCE."