Olympic ambitions for winter sports

Nation gears up for 2022 Games as it strives to involve up to 300 million people in activities

If it were not for the spectators chanting in Chinese, the intense scene at the skating rink at Beijing's Joy City shopping mall on Oct 28 could easily have been at an ice hockey game in North America.

The yelling of the junior players coupled with the sounds of skates cutting hard on the ice and the shoulder pads colliding easily attracted passers-by at the world-standard rink, where the opening game of the Beijing Minor Hockey Leagues 2017-18 season took place.