Unseasonably Warm Weather Frustrates Outside Skating Venues in Beijing
Initially forecast to be the coldest winter since 2012, this winter turns out to be a warm one, according to BJ News, because of the warm winter, the outdoor skating venues at Summer Palace, Beihai Park, and Zizhuyuan are still not open to public. Beijing Botanical Garden and Houhai have however managed to open.
Generally, most of the skating venues should have been open before the New Year, and usually close around February. Due to the higher temperatures this winter, the ice at a number of the venues is not thick enough and so have been unable to open to public. The staff at Summer Palace said, “the layer of ice was only three to four centimeters during New Year, and reached a maximum 12 centimeters on January 8, still three centimeters off the 15 centimeters needed to open.“
After delaying a week its opening time by a week, the Beijing Botanical Garden was the very first to open this winter, followed by the 160,000-square-meter Houhai lake. To make sure the ice remains safe, the staff check its thickness three times per day.
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Also, “due to the pollution, there were only 200-300 people that visited Houhai on the opening weekend, compared to a previous daily flow of 2,000-3,000 people in years past,” said Wang Hui, manager at Houhai Park told BJ News.
Desperate to get out and skate this winter? Check out our comprehensive list of indoor and outdoor skating venues here.
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