The 2018 Winter Olympics held the world’s attention for the better part of this past February. All the usual players, Norway, Germany and Canada shone brightly. Perhaps less visible were athletes from China. Competing in twelve events, the Chinese ranked only 14th out of all participating countries. By 2022, however, the Chinese hope to change all of that.

Beijing 2022

The next winter Olympics will take place in Beijing and the surrounding countryside. Since being awarded with the Olympic hosting duties, the Chinese government has invested billions to reinvigorate their sporting industry. Hundreds of ski resorts and skating arenas are cropping up all over the country. All of this was news to me, however, when I learned that we’d be travelling to China, twice in the last few month, to film skiing.

Travelling off-continent is never easy, but this journey, literally to the other side of the world, was grueling in a way that makes European jet-lag feel like a holiday. Staying on top of my creative game, while exhausted and immersed in new scents, sights and foods, was challenging, but I was determined to push through and make a beautiful product for S-Media.

An Untapped Market

Because the skiing market is fairly new to China, and because the population is so huge, the growth potential for the sport is massive. We wanted to capture this excitement and novelty in the show we were to produce.

With the help of Google Translate to speak with the local experts, we had a successful scouting trip, followed by a successful shoot.

My first couple trips to China were memorable. I look forward to watching the continued growth and success of Chinese ski culture and the 2022 Beijing games.

Additional information on China from Business Insider

Content director and contributor: Jennie Hoekstra