Gold rush for investors at Olympic venue

Once impoverished and largely ignored by visitors, Chongli has turned around its reputation to become a prime winter tourism destination

Editor's note: As the People's Republic of China prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Oct 1, China Daily is featuring a series of stories on the role regions have played in the country's development and where they are today.

For Beijing residents Liu Guilai and his wife Yu Shuzhen, this summer was not too hot as they found a perfect place to escape the heat. Plus, it is not too far from the capital and has a number of leisure activities for retirees.

The couple, both in their 70s, left their home in Beijing during the scorching hot days in July and came to Chongli, Hebei province, about 200 kilometers northwest of the capital.

"If it was not for the Winter Olympic Games we probably would never have visited the place, let alone stayed here for some time," Liu said, adding that they used to spend the summer in northeastern China which has moderate temperature all year round.

Chongli in Zhangjiakou city, was in the past known for being an impoverished area, which people largely avoided due to the bitter cold and stinging winds.

But since 2015, when Beijing won the bid for the 24th Winter Olympic Games, Zhangjiakou has become a popular destination because of its co-host status. It will stage most of the Games' skiing events.

Liu's daughter, Yu Lei, and son-inlaw are both skiing enthusiasts. After driving many times to Chongli to hit the slopes, they bought a small apartment in the area in 2017 to make their stays easier.

"In the winter, they come here for the skiing at the weekends, while this summer they sent us here to escape the heat," Liu said, adding a one-way car trip takes about three hours.

While it was the elderly couple's first trip to Chongli, they said it was nothing like their preconceptions about the region.

"The cool temperature and good air quality make us want to come next summer and we will even recommend the place to our friends," Liu said.

According to the local government, the average summer temperature in Chongli is 18 C, and the average concentration of PM2.5, a major indicator for measuring air quality, is 20 micrograms per cubic meter, consistently the best in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.