Forget about outdoor ice-skating for Valentine's Day: Beijing has shut down all of its outdoor skating rinks as the winter season comes to an end.
Shichahai was the last city venue to shut down on Monday after park officials decided the lake ice had become too thin. Park workers were seen setting up a steel barricade around the lake as the park suspended all ice skating operations.
Despite several cold snaps, winter never fully really arrived Beijing this year. A 90-day-long dry spell finally ended last month with a citywide average snowfall of 1 millimeter.
However, a park spokesperson said Shichahai's 45 day-long operation this year was normal, coinciding with the same number of days as last year's unseasonably mild winter that preventing some city outdoor rinks from opening at all.
As the city prepares the host the Winter Olympics four years from now, Beijing began a citywide campaign to promote winter sports and activities, opening multiple outdoor rinks and "winter playgrounds" last month. Beihai Park even hosted a week-long "Royal Manchu" ice skating performance that combined historically-accurate period costumes along with on-ice acrobatics.
Beijing residents who have missed out on the ice and snow aren't out of luck, especially when it comes to an Olympic caliber. The 2018 Winter Games are currently being held in neighboring Pyeongchang and internationally broadcast.
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