Photo: Courtesy of the Bird Nest's Happy Snow Season

The 11th Happy Snow Season was launched at National Stadium in Beijing, also known as the Bird's Nest, on Thursday. More than 3,000 students of various schools were invited to experience the interesting snow events in order to let more residents take a step closer to the upcoming Winter Olympics.

The Olympics is not only a great sports event but also a chance to popularize winter sports projects and healthier lifestyles to residents, Hu Haibin, the project leader said.

The area of over 60,000 square meters in the Bird's Nest has all been covered with snow and more than twenty fun ice and snow events have been prepared for visitors, including a Snow Castle, and events such as Simulated Curling and Ski Jumping. 

In order to encourage more residents to join in winter sports events, the festival allows children and teenagers who are under 17 years old to enter the stadium admission free.

The Global Times reporter saw many students in school uniforms playing in the stadium covered with snow on Thursday. Some of them had a snowball fight and others walked around the stadium sporting snowboards.

Children are riding snow motorbikes. Photo: Courtesy of the Bird Nest's Happy Snow Season

Each one of them seems to be very happy and they were caught up in the glamour of an ice and snow world

A snow castle that was built at the center of the stadium is an entertainment project suitable for all ages, including the Snow Mountain, Snow Town and Ice Sledge, according to the introduction of these fun events.

Photo: Courtesy of the Bird Nest's Happy Snow Season

The Snow Mountain is made of artificial snow and is designed by professional ice and snow engineers. From the three-meter or five-meter snow holes, players can sit on the snow tube and slide from the top to the bottom.

Although the introduction said that the snow castle is suitable for all ages, it is apparently more appealing to younger children. Many primary school students with yellow caps ran up and down so excitedly in the castle that sometimes only their  bright-colored caps can be seen.

Besides entertainment projects, some simulated professional events of the Olympics are also included in the festival such as Simulated Curling to meet needs of visitors in different age groups.

"There are only two years before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, so we are trying to let winter sports enter the daily life of most residents to encourage them to do more exercise," Hu said during the media interview.