Beijing, host of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, has a snow problem: Hardly any of the white stuff falls on the Chinese capital despite freezing temperatures. Taking the matter in hand, the games organizing committee has formed a "snow affairs work team" and invited experts from Finland, Canada and other nations to help out, according to the official "2017 Beijing Fact File" produced by the city government. The work team would "expedite research on key technologies for making and preserving snow, and start to formulate a work plan to ensure suitable snow resources," the publication said. Beijing was awarded the games in 2015, defeating Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the voting to become the first city to have been awarded both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Beijing's urban centre will host indoor events such as ice hockey and figure skating, largely in venues left over from the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

Source: CBC News October 19, 2017 14:48 UTC