The National Stadium hosts a skiing event in January to promote knowledge of ice sports and the Winter Olympic Games. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Lack of natural snow is considered as a challenge for Beijing's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, while its sole competitor, Kazakhstan's Almaty, has plenty of natural snow and real winter conditions.

Indeed, snow is a must for the running of the Winter Olympics, but it doesn't just take snow to make the Games happen. In addition to snow, solid funding, strong public support and rich winter event operation experience are all prerequisite to a qualified host city.

Despite concerns of lack of natural snow, Beijing has all key elements in place to stage successful Winter Games.

First of all, the Beijing 2022 bid is fully in line with the spirit of the Olympic Agenda 2020 with an athlete-centered, sustainable and economical Games concept.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has spoken highly of Beijing's maximum use of strong existing facilities.

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, described as "truly exceptional" by then IOC president Jacques Rogge, has left dozens of first-class venues in the city. Many of them including the iconic Water Cube and the National Indoor Stadium have been proposed to stage ice events should the Chinese capital win the 2022 bid.

Beijing has also enlisted full government support and significantly high public support for the 2022 bid. According to an opinion poll conducted by the IOC, 92% of Chinese residents nationwide, 88% of the Beijing residents and 93% of Hebei province, support the bid.