by sportswriter Yao Youming

XI'AN, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The first-ever Shaanxi Provincial Winter Games concluded on Wednesday, marking a milestone in the sporting history of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The event not only helped develop athletic and technical talent but also boosted public enthusiasm for winter sports.

MILLSTONE GAMES

Shaanxi has not traditionally been a powerhouse in China's winter sports. When provincial sports officials announced in February 2025 that the first Shaanxi Provincial Winter Games would be hosted by Yulin in January and February 2026, the event drew widespread curiosity.

Tipped as Shaanxi Province's "mini-Winter Olympics", the games featured 136 golds across seven disciplines in the youth category, making Shaanxi the fifth provincial-level region in the Chinese mainland to host its own winter games.

For mass sports enthusiasts, organizers also set three disciplines in the event, including skiing, speed skating and curling.

In addition, Shaanxi was the only province in the Chinese mainland to stage all events within its own territory, including bobsleigh and luge. These two events were held at a national snow events training base in Ningshan county, Ankang city.

The base was constructed in the 2018-19 season by Shaanxi's provincial winter sports administrative center, and has hosted training sessions for many Chinese bobsleigh, skeleton and luge athletes seeking to improve their starts.

Host city Yulin, located in northern Shaanxi, is the province's second-largest economic center. In winter, the city offers temperatures suitable for staging ice and snow events.

"Yulin established the city's cross-country skiing team in 2018. When our provincial team was established in the same year, our top skiers were selected for the provincial squad," said Ma Lu, coach of Yulin's cross-country skiing team.

"After the winter games, we will visit primary schools across Yulin, selecting young talents for our city's cross-country skiing team," Ma added.

UNCONVENTIONAL SOURCE

Yulin is renowned for its unique desert landscape, rich cultural heritage, and status as a key energy base in China.

In the Shaanxi Games, organizers highlighted an unusual source for the speed skating rink's ice and the cross-country ski resort's snow: treated drainage water from local coal mines.

"The coal mine drain water is from five of the eight coal mines in Hengshan, Yulin Mining District. The water can be used in industry, agricultural irrigation, and urban soil and green space irrigation," said Liu Bing, head engineer of the construction management committee in Yulin's science and technology innovation new town.

"While it costs 6.5 yuan for commercial tap water per ton, the price for coal mine drain water per ton is only three yuan. The goal of water conservation has been achieved," Liu told Xinhua.

Bai Zhiguo is an official from the Yulin skating center. In his eyes, the ice rink's quality is the key element of a skating center. To help figure skaters, ice hockey players and curling athletes perform at their best on the rink, Bai sent three local ice makers to Beijing to learn ice-making techniques at the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Ice Cube.

"Making ice is a complex process. We clean the concrete floor, build the ice layers and apply paint markings to the base. It will take eight or nine ice makers a week to make a good high-standard rink," said local amateur ice maker Cao Zhenwei.

After finishing his work for the provincial Winter Games with ice makers from northeast China, Cao had little time to rest.

During the Chinese New Year holiday, Cao will continue to work and the Yulin skating center will open to the public. It will cost each Yulin citizen only 20 yuan to use the rink.

BOILING ICE AND SNOW

In nearby Shenmu, Li Jing built a tourist resort named Bilin Valley in 2012. After the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ended, he was encouraged by China's success in winter sports and decided to build a ski resort in Bilin Valley.

In 2025, he made a significant decision: to cooperate with the local government to upgrade his ski resort, in order to host Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering events at the Shaanxi Games.

Besides hosting the provincial games, Bilin Valley ski resort has welcomed more than 40,000 visitors since December 14, 2025. "Although over 200,000 people visited my resort in the first three seasons of the year 2025, 40,000 skiers have generated the same income as those 200,000 tourists," Li Jing said.

In the mass group Alpine skiing competitions, skiers from Xi'an Siyuan university pocketed three medals. The university's Taibai Sports Base opened in 2024.

"More than 50 students majoring in winter sports management are studying at the base," said Li Shan, head of the base's management committee. "With support from Aoshan Ski Resort, they are improving both their theoretical knowledge and practical skills."

"Shaanxi will continue promoting winter sports, hosting high-level ice and snow competitions and cultivate a system for talent development," Shaanxi sports bureau director You Lei said.

"Meanwhile, Shaanxi will develop its ice and snow economy, so that winter sports can benefit the people of Shaanxi," You added. ■