ARD China correspondent Tamara Anthony and her colleague Daniel Satra were traveling in the host country before the games. Her film accompanies people like Lang Enge, the sheep farmer who got involved and who lives in Yanqing, where the alpine ski races are held.
From sheep farmer to skier
Heing Xi Jinping’s call for Olympic enthusiasm, he sold his animals and encouraged other farmers to learn to ski. He now has a team that teaches local Communist Party members to ski.
Sun Weibo is a professional skier who trains in Zhangjiakou, the venue for most of the Olympic skiing disciplines. She takes the audience to après-ski fun in Chinese.
Strict zero covid strategy
Because China is the only country in the world to adhere to a strict zero-Covid strategy, the games are taking place in a strictly sealed bubble. With Sun Weibo, viewers experience what that means: daily PCR-Tests, app monitoring, travel restrictions and a border right through the village – between the Olympic bubble and normal China.
The West senses the profit
Western companies, such as SnowHow from South Tyrol, also want to benefit from the ski boom in China. The company operates mini-slopes in shopping centers and employs 200 indoor ski instructors who prepare children from China’s aspiring middle class for their first turns in the snow.
Or the company TechnoAlpin, with whose equipment and know-how the Olympic slopes are artificially snowed at enormous energy expenditure.
Journalists are prevented from working
Experts sharply criticize the sustainability concept of the games, especially since parts of the descents are in the nature reserve. Within China, any publication about it will be immediately censored. Foreign journalists are also prevented from doing their work everywhere.
Nevertheless: the report also allows the critical voices to have their say. How do Uyghurs or other Chinese monitored by the police think that their country can present itself in the best light to the world public?
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As of: 01/30/2022, 10:50 p.m