*Winter sports have gained popularity in China in recent years, and people expect the ninth Asian Winter Games to give a further boost to these activities.*Experts believe that people’s growing passion for winter sports has been partially driven by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.*China has unveiled an ambitious plan to grow its ice-and-snow economy, targeting winter sports, tourism and equipment manufacturing as drivers of economic growth.CHANGCHUN, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — At the ski resort of Lianhuashan in northeast China’s Jilin Province, several silver robotic dogs conduct patrols, transport first-aid supplies and pose for photos with the skiers, who now enjoy not only winter sports, but also new services brought by high-tech products.Winter sports have gained popularity in China in recent years, and people expect the ninth Asian Winter Games, slated for February 2025 in China’s “Ice City” of Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, to give a further boost to these activities.”I am sure that the new products can provide a better experience for visitors from around the world,” said Liu Weizhe, a ski enthusiast.A robotic dog performs at the ski resort of Lianhuashan in Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin Province, Nov. 22, 2024. (Xinhua)HI-TECH ON THE SNOWLed by a robotic dog, Liu quickly completed the application procedure for a season pass, which he can use throughout the snow season.He then took pictures of the dog, posting them on social media. “They are like flexible assistants, saving time and effort for customers,” he wrote. “I was told that they can also patrol and rescue. They will definitely play a very big role, especially in extreme weather, making skiers feel safer.”Equipped with advanced sensors and imaging technology, these robotic dogs can participate in daily inspection, emergency rescue and other work, timely detecting the safety hazards in ski resorts, delivering first-aid supplies and guiding rescue workers to the scene, according to Su Zhongwei, marketing director with the Lianhuashan ski resort.Noting that the robotic dogs can reduce the workload of humans, improve the operation efficiency of the resort and collect information which could be used for analysis of customers’ demand, he disclosed that in the future the robotic dogs will also pull sleds and wear costumes in the northeast China style.This is just one example how new technologies are being applied to winter sports amid the boom.This photo taken on Nov. 9, 2024 shows ice socks exhibited at Liaoyuan Northern Socks Industry Group in Liaoyuan City, northeast China’s Jilin Province. (Xinhua/Si Xiaoshuai)The city of Liaoyuan, also in Jilin Province, boasts the production capacity of around 3.5 billion pairs of cotton socks a year, and has been dubbed the “city of socks”. The sock production park has embarked on a collaboration with the Winter Sports Administrative Center of China’s General Administration of Sport, and developed yarn self-heating ice socks for Chinese athletes at
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