The 13th National Winter Games of China has officially started on Wednesday with its opening ceremony held at the Xinjiang Ice Sports Center in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
No less than China Vice Premier Liu Yandong declared the opening of this year's edition of the winter competitions, which were held every four to five years according to tradition.
Aside from mainland China athletes, competitors from Macau and Hong Kong are also included the said games.
Xinhuanet noted that it was "the first time since the winter sports gala was introduced in 1959" that the contests will be conducted "outside the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin", where the freezing climate made this sports event hugely popular among the Chinese.
The report continued that the selection of Xinjiang to be this year's China Winter Games hosts meant that the country's officials are keen on urging "300 million people in China to participate in winter sports while preparing for the 2022 Winter Olympics".
The 10-day event, running from Jan. 20 to Jan. 30, will be participated in by 1,388 players from 52 Chinese municipal and provincial contingents. The athletes will compete in 11 winter sporting disciplines where 97 gold medals are at stake.
All indoor games, such as ice hockey, curling, and speed and figure skating, are to be held at the newly-built Xinjiang Ice Sports Center while outdoor snow games will be done at two separate, newly-renovated local resorts in Ürümqi, as reported by China Daily.
Official games have actually begun on Jan. 10 with Sun Jianping winning the Men's 90m Ski Jump competitions at the Yabuli Ski Resort in Heilongjiang.
The games' closing ceremony is reportedly scheduled on Jan. 30 at the Silk Road Ski Resort also in Xinjiang.