Beijing sports authorities believe that their experience of hosting the Games in 2008 will give them an edge in the 2022 bid.

"The 2008 Olympics has left many legacies to Beijing, which includes experience and sufficient infrastructure," said Beijing Sports Bureau chief Li Yingchuan.

"Take the Capital Stadium as an example, it has about 10,000 seats.

"What we need now is a speedskating venue."

Issues concerning the distance between Beijing and Zhangjiakou, which is around 200 kilometres north-west of the capital in the Hebei Province, were answered with the announcement of a new inter-city express railway, which is to be built between the two cities.

Construction of this inter-city express railway is said to begin at the end of this year, with the travel distance set to be around 40 minutes.

Beijing sports authorities believe that their experience of hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics will give them an edge in the bid

Zhangjiakou, known as "Beijing's Northern Door", was historically the chief northern gate in the Great Wall to China for Europeans travelling along the Tea Road.

The city, which has a population of nearly five million, is located in the northwest part of Hebei Province, and is defined by mostly rough terrain created by the Yin Mountains.

The east of the prefecture marks the Yan Mountains.

But Li admitted the bid may be affected by the fact that Pyeongchang in South Korea is set to host the 2018 Winter Games and Tokyo the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

"There is a rotation rule, though unwritten, in the bid," he said.

"Since Pyeongchang won the 2018 bid, Beijing as another Asian city will face a daunting task to beat the odds. 

"I would say anything is possible.

"Even if Beijing loses this time, we will continue our efforts in the future."

Zhangjiakou is known as the chief northern gate in historically known as the Great Wall to China for Europeans travelling along the Tea Road

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set the bid application deadline for November 14, with the host city election due to take place at its Session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015.

Kazakhstan's Almaty has already submitted its bid for the 2022 Games, while Ukraine's Lviv is expected to put itself forward.

Slovakia's Low Tatras, along with Polish city Krakow, are also planning a joint bid, which will be officially announced on Thursday (November 7).

Norwegian capital Oslo is also expected to bid, while Munich are planning to put themselves forward after an unsuccessful campaign for 2018, providing they receive support in a local referendum due to take place on Sunday (November 10).  

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