YANQING, Beijing, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Although facing windy conditions, Alex Slegg of Britain finished his slalom and giant slalom trainings in the China's National Alpine skiing Centre here on Wednesday.This is my first Paralympic Games and a top-10-finish for me would be fantastic, Slegg told Xinhua.Slegg was a soldier in the British army. In the year 2013, Slegg lost the use of his right leg after an injury.They have a program to teach wounded soldiers to ski again. They told me how to ski and then one thing led to another, now I am here, living a dream, the 30-year-old said.When Slegg joined the Armed Forces Para-Snowsport Team in 2017, he set his sights on competing at the upcoming Beijing Paralympic Games.In 2018, Slegg entered his first international race and had seen success in the following seasons with bronze, silver and gold medals while climbing the international rankings.Slegg said that it was not easy for him to secure his berth at the Beijing Paralympics.It is hard and there is an international standard you have to meet, and my own country Great Britain have their own higher standard again that you have to meet,It has been very full time the last three years trying to get here, I just made it on time, Slegg said.In the ongoing 2021-2022 season, Slegg was selected by his national team. He recognized the selection as his proudest moment in his career.Afree arrived in China the first time, many things impressed him.Everyone I have met so far has been wonderful, really friendly. It would have been great if we go out to see more of the country, but we appreciate that what's going on, the close-loop was necessary, I will just have to come back again, Slegg said.When talking about his training on the course besides the official course named Ice River, Slegg said that he was very impressed with snow despite being warm in the past few days. The quality of snow is really good, he said.With the aim of hosting a simple, safe and splendid Paralympic ...

For me, one of the abiding memories of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be the amazing popularity of the mascot Bing Dwen Dwen.The licensed online store selling Olympic souvenirs announced the presale of Bing Dwen Dwen keychains would kick off at 4 pm on Feb 9. I was determined to own the endearing mascot. So, I placed the order for some keychains by adding them to my shopping e-cart well in advance and waited eagerly for the critical moment to arrive so I could promptly click and pay.As the big day arrived and the clock struck 4, I held my breath and tapped on the pay button on my smartphone screen in a jiffy, without wasting a nanosecond. Yet, wonder of wonders, the flash sale, it seemed, ended for me even before it began.The e-store announced on my phone screen, rather coldly and heartlessly, I should add, that the keychains were either sold out already or out of stock as demand outstripped supply.I can assure you mine wasn't the only heart that lay broken. On social media platform Weibo, the topic of Bing Dwen Dwen sold out received the attention of－wait for it－more than 290 million people! I learned later that 1 million Bing Dwen Dwen-themed products launched on Feb 20 were all sold out on the same day.Will the craze for owning Bing Dwen Dwen products continue? Maybe it will. Perhaps not. But I'd like to bet the phenomenon epitomizes a trend that will continue and bolster China's economic prospects this year. And that is, the great potential of China's consumer market.Chinese consumers have a growing appetite for goods and services that satisfy not just the superficial or physical dimension of one's being but also deeper, more profound aspirations. This pursuit has been a driver of consumption upgrade in China.With the continuous rise in Chinese consumers' living conditions and income levels, consumption upgrade will likely deepen this year and even drive economic growth.Economic data attest to my assertion. For instance, retail sales of gold, sil...