Warming up to winter sports

He said winter sports are becoming a bigger part of Chinese leisure activities as the country prepares for the Winter Olympics.

"Winter sports are getting more Chinese out of their homes to do healthy exercise in the cold, escape from the stress of life, and enjoy the fresh air that us skiers love, " Wood said.

Attracted by the rapid development of winter sports in China, Wood plans to spend part of the year in China in the future.

He is exploring the establishment of an "East West winter sports association", which would focus on winter sports development in China and link those interested in it with the rest of the world.

"Prospects for winter sports in China are very good because many people in the West want to visit China, to ski or skate or to do related business," Wood said.

Infrastructure strengthened

However, Chinese people's participation in winter sports is still at a low level, and most people only go skiing or skating occasionally, Li Shuwang, executive director of the Humanistic Olympic Studies Center affiliated with Renmin University of China, said in an interview with Guangming Daily.

The number of visitors participating in winter sports only accounted for 27.6 percent of tourists during the 2016-17 winter season, according to the China Tourism Academy, with the rest traveling to see winter scenery or exhibitions.

A study by the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University showed that about 62 million Chinese participated in ice and snow sports from 2017 to 2018, around 5 percent of the country's population.

"Insufficient infrastructure is the biggest barrier for the masses to participate in winter sports," Wang Weidong, deputy head of the center, told Guangming Daily.

He said China has 0.2 ski resorts per million people, compared with 31.75 in Austria, 24.25 in Switzerland, and 8.23 in Canada.

Convenient and economical ski resorts are needed to popularize ice and snow sports, Wang Weidong said.

China launched ice and snow sports development plans in 2016 that aim to see the value of the industry reach 600 billion yuan by 2020.

The country also aims to have 650 skating rinks by 2022, up from 200 in 2015, and 800 ski resorts, up from 500.