关于北京冬奥会的四个疑问

    北京击败了哈萨克斯坦的阿拉木图，获得2022年冬奥会举办权。

    国际奥委会在马来西亚吉隆坡举行的第128次会议上做出了这项决定。曾在2008年举办夏季奥运会的北京将创造历史，因为此前还没有哪座城市既举办过夏季奥运会，又举办过冬奥会。

    不过，北京承办冬季赛事的能力还有很大的不确定性。以下是《财富》杂志就2022年冬奥会提出的四个问题。

    中国要为此投入多少资金？

    近年来，举办奥运会的荣耀光环已经变得不那么灿烂。举办国看似在国际舞台上挣得了面子，但实际上，办奥运是个经济无底洞。据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报道，2004年的雅典夏季奥运会给希腊带来了110亿美元债务。北京2008年夏季奥运会花费了440亿美元。俄罗斯索契举办上届冬奥会的成本约为500亿美元。

    冬奥会到底能否带来经济收益？

    很难说。北京方面相信2022年冬奥会有利于本地旅游。北京奥申委网站上说：

    “北京的旅游业正在迅猛发展，已经成为北京经济增长的重要支柱。随着‘大旅游’概念的形成，北京正在向着世界级旅游城市迈进。北京拥有200多个A级及A级以上景点、14个国家级主题旅游示范区、15个农家乐旅游示范区、200多个市级民俗旅游村和近1万个市级民俗旅游户、以及720多家三星及三星以上酒店。”

    北京如何举办冬季赛事？

    北京并不是真的适合开展冬季运动，但索契也是如此。因此，预计北京将采用人造雪，而且将大量使用。对于索契如何奇迹般地成功举办了冬奥会，《纽约时报》有如下报道：

    “机器造雪的方式和自然界一样，把水滴冻成雪花。但机器工作时距地面只有几英尺，而不是在温度要低得多的高空。造雪机依靠的是热力学原理，但有时候物理手段的作用有限。”

    在这个过程中，气温是关键。如果举办冬奥会时北京气温过高，情况就可能变得有点儿危险。不过，正如CNN报道的那样，北京是冰上项目比赛地，雪上项目都将在北京西北约190公里的张家口进行。

    污染问题怎么解决？

    当然，北京市政府将竭尽全力来消除人们在雾霾和污染问题上的顾虑。不管怎样，2008年北京确实有效控制了污染，因此政府可能再次采取这样的措施。

    北京奥申委新闻宣传部副部长徐济成在一份公告中表示：“从技术上讲，污染已经减少，而且得到了控制。我们还有七年多时间，到时候人们在北京看到的将是阳光和白云。”

    为此，北京已经对户外烧烤下了禁令。真的。（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    校对：詹妮

    The Chinese city of Beijing has been named host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, beating out Almaty, Kazakhstan in the process.

    The decision was made at the 128th International Olympic Committee session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Beijing’s win will set Olympic history, as no other city has hosted both the Winter and Summer Olympic games. Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.

    Still, there’s plenty of uncertainty over Beijing’s ability to host wintertime athletics. Here are four questions Fortune has about the 2022 Games:

    How much will it cost China?

    The pride of hosting an Olympic event has lost some of its luster in recent years. Hosting the Olympics might seem like it affords international bragging rights, but in reality it’s a big economic drain. Greece’s 2004 Athens Summer Olympics left the country with $11 billion in debt, according to CNN. Beijing’s own 2008 Summer Games, meanwhile, cost $44 billion. The previous Winter Olympic Games, held in Sochi, Russia, cost about $50 billion.

    Will there be any economic benefit at all?

    It’s hard to say. Beijing believes hosting the 2022 Olympics will be a boon for its tourism industry. Per Beijing’s bid committee website:

    “Beijing’s tourism industry is developing dramatically and has become an important pillar industry for the capital’s economic development. With a development concept of “Great Tourism,” Beijing is making itself a world-class tourism city. Beijing is home to more than 200 A-class or higher-rated tourist attractions, 14 national industry-themed tourism demonstration spots and 15 agriculture-themed tourism demonstration spots, more than 200 municipality-level folklore tourism villages and nearly 10,000 municipality-level folklore tourism households, and more than 720 three-star or higher-rated hotels.

    How can Beijing host Winter events?

    Beijing’s not exactly a winter city — but then again, neither was Sochi. So expect fake snow. Lots and lots of fake snow. Here’s a little on how Sochi accomplished the winter miracle, per The New York Times:

    “Machines make snow the same way nature does, by freezing water droplets. But they do it a few feet above the ground, rather than in the much colder conditions high in the atmosphere. Snowmaking machines employ a few thermodynamic tricks to help, but at times there is a limit to what physics can do.

    Temperature is key in this process. Should Beijing be too warm around the time of the Games, things may get a little dicey. Still, as CNN notes, Beijing will host the ice-based events, while competitions requiring snow will be held about 120 miles to Beijing’s northwest in Zhangjiakou.

    And what about the pollution?

    Beijing officials, of course, are doing their best to dissipate doubts regarding the city’s smog and pollution issues. For what it’s worth, the city did curb pollution effectively in 2008, so it’s possible it could repeat those efforts.

    Xu Jicheng, who helps lead Beijing 2022’s press efforts, said in a statement that “technically the pollution has been reduced and controlled, we have seven more years to go and it will be sunshine and white clouds.”

    To help, Beijing has already banned barbecues. Really.