On December 23rd, the launch ceremony of the 10th National Public Ice and Snow Season was held at Big Air Shougang, the venue of the Beijing Winter Olympics. State Councilor Chen Yiqin attended the ceremony and announced the launch of the National Public Ice and Snow Season, which kicked off in the six sub-venues of Tianjin, Hebei, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shanghai and Hubei, as well as other locations across the country.

Before the launch ceremony, Chen Yiqin watched the "Learning Skating from Olympic Champions" open class, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Figure Skating Freestyle Invitational Tournament and 10-year Achievement Exhibition of the National Public Ice and Snow Season held at the Shougang Short Track Speed Skating Hall. She interacted with Winter Olympic champions and representatives of ice and snow sports enthusiasts to learn about the development of ice and snow sports. She stressed the need to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, carry forward the spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics, fully utilize the legacy of the Winter Olympics, plan and organize various ice and snow events, facilitate more free or low-cost access to ice and snow venues, promote ice and snow sports to "expand to the southern, western and eastern regions", continuously consolidate and expand the achievements of "engaging 300 million people in ice and snow sports", stimulate the vitality of sports consumption and contribute to building a sports power.

This year's National Public Ice and Snow Season is co-sponsored by the General Administration of Sport of China and Beijing Municipal People's Government. During the event, various regions across the country will carry out ice and snow events under the theme "Happy Ice and Snow Sports Creating the Future" which will be rich in content and beneficial to the public. The preliminary statistics show that there will be nearly 2,000 events.

Zhao Minge and Liang Jie, leaders of the Shougang Group, and more than 300 Shougang staff representatives attended the launch ceremony.

After the ceremony, the citizens participating in the event experienced the charm of ice and snow sports at the 30,000 m2 "Ice and Snow Exchange in Shougang Park" at Big Air Shougang. The Ice and Snow Exchange is a popular winter playground built by Shougang Park at Big Air Shougang to promote the sustainable utilization of Winter Olympic venues. It integrates mass fitness, ice and snow entertainment, technological experience and leisure activities. It has been held for two years and received more than 80,000 visitors.

The 2023–2024 Third Ice and Snow Exchange in Shougang Park, under the theme "AI Projects at Big Air, Trendy Experience at the Ice and Snow Exchange", will bring visitors a brand-new upgraded experience. Taking place during the Spring Festival, the Ice and Snow Exchange combines ice and snow sports with opportunities in science and technology. Relying on Big Air Shougang, it highlights mass ice and snow, technological ice and snow, and the ice and snow economy, creates an ice and snow carnival featuring cross-border integration, cultural artistry and entertainment participation, and integrates ice and snow entertainment with technological experience and a food market.

In addition to the 14 classic snow entertainment projects at Big Air such as snow tubing, snow Zorb balls and snowmobiling, Shougang Park has fully explored the sustainable utilization of its Winter Olympic venues by integrating ice and snow projects with digital technology. The cooling towers have been turned into digital AI experience fields. In the first cooling tower adjacent to Big Air, there are three AI digital technology projects: Bingbingxia Metaverse, Feitianlong Orbit Cinema and Virtual Battlefield CS. Bingbingxia Metaverse presents special effects in sci-fi movies by creating realistic virtual reality scenes; wearing professional glasses, visitors can instantly travel through an underwater world, the dinosaur era, tropical jungles, etc. Feitianlong Orbit Cinema makes full use of the cooling tower structure; the dome-shaped screen resembles the sky with a 360-degree panoramic view and stereo surround sound to give visitors the sensation of flying, not only providing great amusement but also delivering a strong visual impact. Virtual Battlefield CS is a virtual digital battlefield that provides a variety of environments in which players can experience thrilling adventures. At the same time, in the second cooling tower adjacent to Big Air, Shougang Park has built the "Retro Disco Ice Rink" using its architectural characteristics. On this 1,000 m3 real ice rink, four trusses are hung with colorful lights and audio equipment. Visitors can experience an extraordinary "Mohe Ballroom" on real ice set to cool music.

During the Ice and Snow Exchange, Shougang Park created a giant digital ancient dragon entrenched in Big Air Shougang by using metaverse MR digital technology to spread good fortune and pray for well-being. Visitors can scan the QR code with their mobile phones to immediately break the dimensional wall and take intimate photos with the ancient dragon. At the same time, Bingbingxia, the mascot of the Ice and Snow Exchange in Shougang Park, joins hands with the zodiac mascot every year, and this year is no exception. The high-tech Bingbingxia will light up 2024 hand in hand with Feitianlong to represent the Year of the Dragon. The virtual mascots will "appear out of thin air" and interact closely with visitors. There will also be a characteristic market in the Shougang style with themed cultural activities and much more.

On December 24th, snow amusement and AI technology experience projects such as the snow tube circle, snow Zorb balls, snowmobiling, snow tanks, snow theater CS and snow theater shooting were fully opened. The real ice rink of the cooling tower is soon to make its wonderful debut.