Winter Olympic speculation group in China making assessment

‍‍According to Beijing Winter Olympic Bid Committee, the IOC speculation group is in China from 22 March through 29 March, to make assessment of the bidding cities. They will listen to statement of Beijing Bidding Committee, and visit venues in Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou. 

The IOC speculation group in China is made up of 19 members. The speculation group contains a 12-people speculation committee, and IOC staffs. The speculation committee includes four IOC members from Russia, New Zealand, UK, and Japan, as well as eight IOC experts in relevant fields. 

The speculation group will make a report to IOC, and will give the report to the bidding city in June. 

At the news conference of Beijing Bidding Committee on 21 March, the speaker said that the success of bidding could make 300 million people participate in winter sports. Now, there are 96 ice hockey teams in schools of the Beijing area, with 2,000 people participating in the sport. 

There will be five venues in Beijing, all of which will be used for ice sports. The venues include: National Indoor Stadium, MasterCard Center, Capital Stadium, National Aquatics Center, and a newly built stadium for speed skating. 

In Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, there will be two and five venues respectively, all for snow related sports.