The third Winter National Fitness Games of Qingdao, Shandong province kicked off on Jan 23 in an effort to further arouse the public's interest in winter sports and welcome the upcoming Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.

The country has seen an uptick in enthusiasm for winter sports since 2015, when Beijing successfully won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

With strict pandemic prevention and control measures in place, the Qingdao winter fitness games attracted more than 100 snow and ice enthusiasts of all different ages from 10 districts and county-level cities.

Since the beginning of this year, Qingdao has hosted a series of winter-sports-related events to promote ice and snow sports at the grassroots level.

The local government has incorporated winter sports into physical education classes in schools, and plans to bring winter sports onto campuses as well.

The third Qingdao Winter National Fitness Games delight many youngsters. [Photo/Dazhong News]

A boy takes part in the third Qingdao Winter National Fitness Games. [Photo/Dazhong News]

People take part in the third Qingdao Winter National Fitness Games. [Photo/Dazhong News]

A woman takes part in the curling competition during the third Qingdao Winter National Fitness Games. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

The third Qingdao Winter National Fitness Games are aimed at promoting winter sports at the grassroots level. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

As the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games approaches, enthusiasm for winter sports has exploded in Qingdao. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]