An alpine skiing event kicked off at the National Alpine Skiing Centre in Beijing's Yanqing District on February 21, 2021. With men’s and women’s combined, downhill, slalom and giant slalom events, it marked the first test of the venue specially built for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Hailed as “the jewel in the crown of the Winter Olympic Games”, alpine skiing is breathtaking and exciting, and is one of the most sought-after competitions on the Olympic program.

The National Alpine Skiing Centre is the country’s first alpine skiing venue built to Winter Olympics standards. Covering a land area of 432.4 hectares, it has seven courses, including three for competitions and four for training, with a total length of 9.2 kilometers.

The venue is nicknamed the “Flying Snow Swallow” for its resemblance to a swallow with its wings spreading from an aerial view and for the metaphor comparing alpine skiing athletes to swallows flying on snow. Since a “flying swallow” symbolizes auspiciousness in Chinese folklore, the nickname vividly depicts the characteristics of the venue and sports events it is designed to host, marking perfect integration of the Olympic and traditional Chinese culture.

The 10-day test event consisted of two parts: the 2020/2021 National Alpine Skiing Invitational, which comprised men’s and women’s combined and giant slalom events, and the Paralympic Alpine Skiing Invitational, with men’s and women’s Super-G, giant slalom and slalom events.

Following the principle of “hosting a streamlined, safe and splendid Games”, the venue operator adopted effective anti-epidemic measures, including bubble management of related zones, and monitoring and checks for epidemic prevention, and streamlined facilities to save cost.

Efficient services were provided to ensure safety during the event. Medical workers were on standby on site to provide timely treatment if necessary, and a drill was held to ensure efficient transfer of athletes and staff between different zones as well as orderly technical support, power supply and security services.