People's enthusiasm for winter sports is on the rise across China as the 9th Asian Winter Games approaches.
The 2025 Asian Winter Games, which will open in Harbin City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on February 7, 2025, is the first major international ice and snow event hosted by China since the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
The event started its 100-day countdown on Wednesday.
On Sunday, a themed fitness activity for children and teenagers was held at an ice rink in the host city, including a figure skating program, where young participants showed off their graceful dance moves, and an ice hockey match.
In northwest China's Xinjaing Uygur Autonomous Region, the Keketuohai International Ski Resort in Altay Prefecture, which opened to skiers on Oct. 20, is the first outdoor ski resort in the country to resume operations this winter. Snow sport enthusiasts from across the country are gathering here to enjoy the slopes with the resort welcoming more than 3,000 skiers and snowboarders a day.
"I feel pretty good for my first run today. The snow was powdery and the overall experience was good," said Hu Changze, a skier from Shanghai.
In the northern provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning, the falling temperatures mean major ski resorts can start snowmaking ahead of their anticipated opening in early November.
"More than 50 snowmaking vehicles are working together. This year, we have added children's exclusive snow trails and snowboard teaching areas to maximize the ice and snow entertainment experience," said Zhang Dongxu, the person in charge of a ski resort in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province.
Industry data show that China's ice and snow sports venues and facilities are rapidly growing in scale. By 2023, a total of 2,847 winter sports venues were operating in the country, driving the rapid development of the equipment industry and other related sectors. The output value of China's winter sports industry is expected to exceed one trillion yuan (about 140.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025.
Winter sports gaining popularity across China as Asian Winter Games approaches
Axis powers during World War II should offer sincere reflection and apology, a Greek mayor said after Greece successfully repatriated a rare collection of 262 World War II-era photographs.
Greek officials traveled to Belgium to negotiate with the seller and brought the photographs back to Greece, after they were put up for sale online by a Belgian collector, said the Greek Culture Ministry.
The images were taken by Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer, who served in Greece from 1943 to 1944, during World War II, and part of the collection documents the mass execution of Greek communists by Nazi troops in Kaisariani, east of Athens.
During World War II, German occupation in Greece met with fierce resistance. On May 1, 1944, German forces executed 200 Greeks at the Kaisariani firing range in retaliation for the killing of a German general by resistance fighters.
A memorial and a museum were set up after the war in Kaisariani to commemorate those who died in the mass execution.
"The photos really shocked us all because they were real documents from the day of the execution. We are shocked for many reasons. An important reason is that the 200 communists were singing with their heads held high before the execution in the photos, and they were not mourning because they were fighters," said Ilias Stamelos, mayor of Kaisariani.
The newly recovered photographs have drawn renewed attention to the historical trauma still felt in the community, as the images provide a direct visual record of the final moments of those executed.
In 1987, then German President Richard von Weizsaecker visited Greece and made a special stop in Kaisariani, reflecting on the profound suffering inflicted on the Greek people by Germany during World War II.
Ilias said that, like Germany, Japan, another Axis power during the war, should also be held accountable for the massive harm it caused to multiple countries and should offer sincere reflection and apology for its wartime aggression.
"And I think it's a common demand, because those responsible for the deaths in the World War II need to pay for what happened. It's known to all that back then it was Germany, Japan and Italy, the allies in this war, that each played different roles in the war, yet they do have common responsibilities," said the mayor.
Historic photos of Nazi mass execution of Greeks returned to Greece, mayor calls for historical accountability
