'Ice City' feels heat of anticipation

Among them, mixed doubles curling, ski mountaineering and synchronized aerials of freestyle skiing will make their program debut at the Games.

Meanwhile, many Southeast Asian countries and regions, including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, have signed up for the alpine skiing competition, which will have more participants than any other event in Harbin's program, underlining the expanding landscape of winter sports across the continent.

All the 13 existing competition venues for the Games — five for ice sports in downtown Harbin and another eight for snow events in Yabuli, a ski resort cluster 200 kilometers from the city center — have completed renovation and equipment upgrades to international standards, and have had all the equipment, operations and service protocols fine-tuned based on feedback from 14 test events.

The tests, that covered all of the competition events, went smoothly and ensured that "organizers left no stones unturned" to guarantee the best possible experience for all participants, said Li.

The two hosting areas are connected by a high-speed railway line, and the traveling time is only about one hour.

The refurbishment of railway stations, streamlining of transportation hubs and planning of shuttle services for athletes and accredited media professionals have been completed.

A newly built second runway at Harbin's international airport was opened on Jan 23, according to the organizing committee.

Thirty-one hospitals have been designated as medical service providers for the Games, while 550 medical personnel have been trained and deployed across all venues for administering first aid.