Ski orienteering event marks a year of China-Finland cooperation

Xinhua reported that the two sides have signed more than 20 agreements that have played a positive role in promoting the common development of the winter sports industry in the two countries.

Finland had more than 520 square meters of space and more than 40 exhibitors at the International Winter Sports Expo held in Beijing in October.

It said Finland has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists who enjoy winter sports. According to Visit Finland, a total of 140,000 Chinese tourists were booked to arrive in Finland between December 2019 and February 2020, an increase of 16 percent compared to last winter.

Kari Trikkonen, founder and CEO of the Suomu ski resort, said now people in the Lapland area of Finland know about the new ski orienteering competition they hope it will continue next year.

Ski orienteering integrates the rules and techniques of alpine skiing and ski orienteering, and pits teams of three in a race to visit dozens of points set along the slopes, with the fastest named the winner.

The ski orienteering competition was co-hosted by the Chinese Ski Association, the Suomu ski resort and Chinese company Sportvane. It was the first time the race event had been held abroad since its launch 6 years ago in China.

Before going to Finland, the series has been held at the Beidahu ski resort in Northeast China's Jilin province and the Yabuli ski resort in Heilongjiang province. The 2018-19 season saw more than 20,000 ski enthusiasts take part.

The Finland competition attracted entries from Chinese and Finnish parent-child teams, as well as all-adult combinations. Wang Huang, a mother in a winning parent-child group, said the charm of the competition was the need for close coordination. She said "trust" was the key to their success.

"Actually, we had a disagreement on the map and ski route at the beginning, we quarreled and almost gave up," she said, "But with the beautiful scenery, we tried to stay calm and finally completed the event by trusting each other."