President Xi Jinping visited the National Speed Skating Oval, Main Media Center, Athletes' Village, Games-time Operations Command Center and a winter sports training base in Beijing, learning about Games preparatory work as well as Chinese athletes' preparations for the Games, on Jan 4, 2022.

"Only those who withstand the freezing cold could enjoy the fragrance of plum blossom," Xi quoted a poem to encourage the athletes to cherish the precious opportunity after years of preparations for sporting excellence.

President Xi Jinping arrived in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province by taking the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed rail on Jan 19, 2021. He inspected the Taizicheng rail station close to the competition venues and athletes' village, the National Ski Jumping Center, and the National Biathlon Center.

The foundation of building a sporting powerhouse lies in mass-participation sports and China's hosting of the Games should entail a higher national level of winter sports, especially snow sports, he said.

President Xi Jinping learned about the preparation for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the planning and construction of the venues and infrastructure, at the Shougang Park in Shijingshan district, the seat of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games, in Beijing, Feb 1, 2019.

He stressed the need to stay committed to hosting the Games in a green, sharing, open and clean manner, and to complete all preparation tasks with high standards. 

President Xi Jinping visited the Wukesong Arena and Capital Gymnasium in Beijing, venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, to listen to briefings on preparatory work and watch the training of winter sports teams on Feb 24, 2017.

Xi said the 2022 Beijing Olympics will be an iconic event and should be hosted in a sustainable, open-minded and frugal way with a lasting legacy.

President Xi Jinping inspected proposed venue areas around Chongli county, Zhangjiakou, on Jan 23, 2017. He visited Genting Ski Resort in Chongli and the resort's equipment rental area before going outdoors to check venue layouts around the resort.

Xi stressed that the organizing committee and involved departments should approach the preparation based on scientific planning in venue design, construction and resource allocation to host a green, open-minded and corruption-free Olympics in a shared manner.