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Concerns and controversies at the 2022 Winter Olympics

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There have been concerns and controversies about the 2022 Winter Olympics which will be hosted in Beijing, China.

Contents

Cost and climate

Several cities withdrew their applications during the bidding process, citing the high costs or the lack of local support to host the 2022 games, leaving Almaty in Kazakhstan and Beijing as the only candidate cities by 1 October 2014.

The decision to bid for the Olympics was controversial in China (and outside) because Beijing itself, and especially some of the proposed outdoor venues, does not have reliable snowfall in winter for snow sports. Concerns have been raised that snow may need to be transported to the venues at great cost and with uncertain environmental consequences.

Promotional song

Some commentators alleged that one of the early promotional songs for the 2022 Winter Olympics, called "The Snow and Ice Dance," has suspicious similarities with "Let It Go." A Chinese media outlet cited technical analysis of the two songs: Both songs employ a piano as the major instrument, have similar prelude chords and an eight-beat introduction, and they run at almost exactly the same tempo.

Impact on Songshan National Nature Reserve

The environmental impact of hosting the games near Beijing has been questioned. Some of the proposed venues will be adjacent to the Songshan National Nature Reserve and part of the same mountain system, and the environmental impact on the nature reserve of construction, and artificially covering parts of the mountain with snow, is uncertain.

Human rights and censorship

Domestic Chinese criticism and debate on the potential environmental impacts caused by the game are censored by the Chinese government on the press and internet.

References

Concerns and controversies at the 2022 Winter Olympics Wikipedia


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