A press conference for the one-year countdown to the 14th National Winter Games is held in Hulunbuir, a city of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Feb 16. [Photo/northnews.com]

A press conference for the one-year countdown to the 14th National Winter Games was held in Hulunbuir, a city of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Feb 16.

At the conference, the organizing committee outlined the preparations and released the songs and pictures to be used for the upcoming 14th National Winter Games.

Ai Lihua, the deputy director of the organizing committee, said that Inner Mongolia will set up seven winter sports venues for the event, and all these venues will be completed by October this year. She also added that the torch relay would start in May this year.

As China's last national winter games before the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022, and the region's first time hosting a sports event of this caliber, the games present an ideal opportunity to showcase the development of winter sports in China to the outside world.

A staff member of the organizing committee demonstrates the mascots for the 14th National Winter Games, Feb 16. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]