By Duncan Mackay

Beijing has launched a new website to coincide with the one-year to go countdown until a decision is made on which city is chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics ©Beijing 2022Beijing has launched a new website to mark the one-year countdown until the decision to choose the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. 


Beijing has so far kept a much lower-profile than rivals Almaty and Oslo, also shortlisted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier this month. 

But the launch of the new website, which is in Chinese, English and French, appears to mark a ramping up of the campaign ahead of the submission of the Candidate Files, which is due next January. 

Wang Hui, head of public relations for Beijing 2022, claimed the new website would help people understand winter sports better.

"We hope the website could help -people get to know the sports, and catch up with what is underway during the bidding procedure," he said. 

Beijing's bid, made jointly with Zhangjiakou, a city 205 kilometres northwest of Beijing in Hebei Province, has emerged as a serious contender as other candidates have faded away, mainly due to lack of public support. 

If the bid is successful, Beijing would become the first city in the history of the Olympics to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

The new website launched by Beijing 2022 appears to mark an upturn in the bid's public relations campaign having been more low-profile than its rivals Almaty and Oslo ©Beijing 2022The new website launched by Beijing 2022 appears to mark an upturn in the bid's public relations campaign having been more low-profile than its rivals Almaty and Oslo ©Beijing 2022
 
But it faces criticism over lack of compactness, air pollution in Beijing and the potential cost. 

If successful at the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31 next year, Beijing 2022 would be held in three clusters in the two cities. 

Five ice events will be held at the Olympic Centre in downtown Beijing, including the Capital Indoor Stadium, which is set to host the figure skating and short track speed skating events, and the Wukesong Arena for ice hockey.

Only one new stadium, the National Speed Skating Stadium, is planned to be built in Beijing for the speed skating event if the bid succeeds, it is claimed.

Competitions for luge, bobsleigh and Alpine skiing will be held in Yan-qing county in the northwest of Beijing, about 90 kilometers from the Chinese capital. 

All other skiing events will be held in Chongli county in Zhangjiakou.

A new high-speed railway is planned between the three competing clusters, which aims for a 20-minute journey between downtown Beijing and Yanqing and a further 40-minute route to Zhangjiakou.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies would be held at the National Stadium, the main venue for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, better known as the Bird's Nest.

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