The development of winter sports is on the rise and related industries are embracing unprecedented opportunities in Qingdao, Shandong province as the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics brought great passion to the sector.

At the Conson Sports Center ice rink in Laoshan district, children can have a blast while skating with their parents. Many visitors can be seen lining up at the ticket office. The sports center serves more than 60,000 ice-lovers every year and has built an ice hockey club with more than 50 players.

Visitors enjoy ice skating at the Conson Sports Center ice rink in Qingdao. [Photo/Guanhai News]

Banqiao Silk Road Culture Town's "Snow and Ice Carnival" in Dagu River Resort, Jiaozhou's first snow and ice amusement park, is also quite popular. Many families have been drawn to snow surfing, snow tanks, and other recreational activities.

On average, 2,000 people visit the Lovey-pet Snow Park in the Horticultural Expo Park in Licang district each day. While playing in the snow, visitors may get up close and personal with charming animals like alpacas and sika deer.

Hiring ski instructors to teach skiing in Qingdao's ski resorts was not typical a few years ago. However, ski instructors are in short supply this season at ski resorts.

A ski instructor teaches children at a ski resort in Qingdao. [Photo/Guanhai News]

At the Qingdao Sunac Cangma Mountain Ski Resort, a one-hour one-to-one training session costs 280 yuan ($44.32) and the demand for the courses exceeds the supply.

The unparalleled passion generated from the Winter Olympics looms large, as more and more people are heading to ice rinks and snow slopes to sample the pleasure of winter sports, Qingdao officials said.

Qingdao is working to promote the popularity of ice and snow consumption. The city has greatly boosted investment in its winter sports infrastructure, equipment manufacturing, tourism and winter sports education.

By the end of 2021, Qingdao had 28 ice and snow enterprises, with a total output value of about 500 million yuan. The city has eight ski resorts and four ice rinks.