【英文朗读】Feeling nice on ice

Feeling niceon ice

00:07①Zeal for the Beijing Winter Olympics has generated a surge in thepopularity of icesports and games among the capital's residents, especially during the ongoing SpringFestival.

00:22②On Thursday morning, crowds of people wereseizing the tail of winterat a 160,000-square-meter outdoor rink in downtown Beijing's Shichahai Lake. The ice will start to meltsoon afterthe festival.

00:40③Pros were speed skating and figure skating, while amateurs were riding ice bikesand dragon boats across the frozen water.

00:50④The rink usually opens around December orJanuary every year, depending on the weather, and typically operates for about a month, managerXu Jian said. It opened onJan 11 this year. Workers check the ice three times a day to ensure it is at least 15centimeters thick, according to Beijing's standards.

01:15⑤Beijing has significantly increased its winter sports facilities sinceBeijing won the 2022 Olympicbid in 2015. The number of skating surfaces grew from 86 to 179, and ski resorts rosefrom 22 to 32 by the end of 2021, according to the municipal sports bureau.

01:44⑥China has achieved its goal of engaging at least 300 million peoplein winter sports. A National Bureau of Statistics survey showed 346million people nationwidehad participated in winter sports between 2015 and last October.