The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, by the numbers

The Olympic flame will light this week in Beijing, at the finish line of a pandemic-shortened relay that saw the torch travel from one side of the city to the other—passing landmarks like the Great Wall of China over the course of three days. It may be a far cry from the global tour that preceded its last Olympics in 2008, but nevertheless, Beijing is on the edge of glory: It’s poised to become the first city in history to host both the summer and winter games.

Torch-bearers in the scaled-back relay—1,200 total—include basketball star Yao Ming, Oscar-nominated film director Zhang Yimou, and a Chinese army commander wounded in a bloody border clash with India in 2020—a harbinger, perhaps, of the political scrutiny that has engulfed this year’s Olympic Games. As last year’s affair in Tokyo would suggest, it’s a strange time to have an Olympics, especially one mired in global controversy amid the chaos of a raging pandemic.

But still, the show goes on. The opening ceremony, staged by director Zhang, will unfold in the Bird’s Nest—an architectural marvel originally built for the 2008 summer games—on February 4, with 16 days of competition to follow.

Here, a look at some of the numbers.

3.9 billion

In U.S. dollars, the total cost of hosting the winter Olympics, according to China. That’s surprisingly budget-friendly, making it the least expensive games of the past two decades, which gives China bragging rights as president Xi Jinping touted a “green, safe, and simple” Olympics. (For its 2008 summer games, Beijing spent $42 billion.) However, a media report found China’s 2022 total left off dozens of costs, including that of the Ice Ribbon speedskating oval and a high-speed bullet train. Altogether, it estimated the Olympic price tag to be roughly $39 billion.

49 million

The volume of water in gallons needed to cover Olympic race tracks, moguls, jumps, and half-pipes with fake snow, as Beijing becomes the first host city to rely exclusively on snow-making guns. The mountainous regions outside Beijing rarely get more than a light dusting of natural powder, meaning powerful machines do the rest, transfiguring compressed air and water into misshapen ice crystals. While artificial snow is increasingly common at winter Olympics—scientists ascribe this to climate change—experts worry that Beijing’s dramatic push to make Zhangjiakou into China’s Alps could aggravate the region’s extreme water scarcity, which ranks among the worst in the country.

11,000

The estimated number of foreigners quarantined in Beijing’s COVID-19 “bubble,” likely the most ambitious strategy of its kind ever executed. Described by authorities as a “closed loop system,” it seals the games completely from the rest of the city, enclosing officials, journalists, and 2,900 athletes in a network of fenced-off, police-guarded stadiums, conference centers, and hotels. Nearly 20,000 Chinese volunteers and staff have lived in the bubble for weeks. There’s a dedicated transit system, including buses with specially marked lanes—locals who cross into these lanes will be fined. In fact, locals are even instructed not to help if an Olympic vehicle crashes.

Within the bubble, futuristic technology abounds. Robots cook food and brew coffee in smart cafeterias, and meals descend from the ceiling via giant mechanical arms. More robots deliver packages, collect garbage, and scan the air for viral particles. Visitors are also encouraged to use contactless payments in the form of China’s nascent digital currency, the e-CNY.

220

The top speed in MPH of the driverless bullet trains—currently, the world’s fastest—that connect three zones of competition. Built specifically for the games, they shuttle athletes and officials across 110 miles of railway track—from Beijing to satellite venues on mountain slopes near Yanqing and Zhangjiakou—cutting transportation time from 3 hours down to 45 minutes. (The first-ever train, back in 1909, took 8 hours.) These bullet trains also have 5G news broadcasting studios on board.

109

The number of medal events, across seven winter sports. It’s a record total of chances to win gold at the winter Olympics, including seven debut events in skiing, snowboarding, speedskating, and bobsled. Among them: Freestyle skiing’s “big air,” a primetime show of aerial acrobatics in which skiers propel themselves off a massive ramp, twisting and flipping as many times as possible before touching the ground again.

99

In degrees Fahrenheit, the body temperature that will trigger an alarm in the armpit thermometers sewn into the uniforms of some staff, designed to warn of a fever. Anybody who catches COVID will be booted from the games.

91

The number of countries participating, including Haiti and Saudi Arabia for the first time.

7

The number of major countries boycotting the games so far, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, Denmark, and India. The outcry comes as media coverage of alleged human rights abuses in China has swelled—particularly over its treatment of Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority that reporters claim are being detained en masse in re-education camps in the Xinjiang territory, subject to forced labor, torture, and genocide. In December, the U.S. declared a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics, meaning it would send athletes, but no government delegation to the games; other countries quickly followed suit. Some also cited Peng Shuai, a Chinese tennis star who mysteriously disappeared after accusing a high-ranking Beijing official of assault.

1

The number of athletes from India, which became the latest country to join the diplomatic boycott on Thursday, after the soldier involved in the border skirmish with Indian troops appeared in the torch relay. The country, which has never won a winter Olympic medal, is sending a lone skier who qualified for the games, and will carry the flag on his own.

0

The number of international spectators at this year’s games—an echo of last year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo. Despite the development of COVID-19 vaccines, surges in the delta and omicron variants have forced Beijing into a state of high alert, especially as the virus continues to mutate. In mid-January, the organizing committee walked back its earlier policy, stating it would not sell tickets to the public but would invite 150,000 spectators from mainland China including diplomats and marketing partners, as well as locals and school children. International journalists are welcomed.