Crowds in Beijing wildly celebrated being awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Thousands gathered in the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium to watch the announcement that was made at 6 PM local time.
The announcement was greeted by cheering, enthusiastic flag-waving from the crowd.
Chen Wanyi, a college student, cheers on the city.
"I feel especially happy to come here and be part of such a celebration, and I'm very happy! I'm so happy that Beijing has become the host of the Winter Olympics! Go Beijing!"
Huo Ge, a native of Zhangjiakou, says he is extremely proud.
"I'm definitely happy, because half of me is from Beijing, and half of me is from Zhangjiakou. I'm extremely proud that the Winter Olympics in my both of my hometowns."
Besides excitement, expectations are also on the rise that the city will benefit from hosting the event.
Wang Xiaobing, a professor at the China Academy of Sciences, believes that the Winter Olympics could bring possible improvements to Beijing's environment and reduce pollution, much like the Summer Olympics of 2008 and APEC summit of 2014 did.
"Since Beijing won the bid for the Summer Olympics, the surroundings and the environment has improved a lot, like with APEC Blue. I believe the government has the strength to adjust the infrastructure to lower pollution. I think it will make big improvements."
Meanwhile, people in the co-host city of Zhangjiakou are also looking forward to the games.
22 year-old student Jin Bo says she wants to be a volunteer for the event.
"I still don't know what I will do during the Olympics in 2022, because I have just graduated in university this year. But I think that when the moment comes I will come to Chongli and consider being a volunteer. I think this is a very good choice."
Beijing won 44 nods against Almaty's 40 in the IOC voting with one abstention, becoming the first ever city to host both summer and winter Olympics.
The city plans to use many of the buildings that hosted events in 2008, including the "Bird's Nest" stadium and "Water Cube" arena, for the indoor ice events in 2022, while the snow and sliding venues will be at Yanqing county and the city of Zhangjiakou.
For CRI, I'm Luo Bin.
