The capital city was named host on this day in 2015 at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Kuala Lumpur after beating Kazakhstan rival Almaty.

The 44-40 margin of victory was far tighter than expected in a contest plagued with problems to the electronic voting system.

The two-horse race, which took place after Stockholm, Lviv, Kraków and Oslo all withdrew from the contest, has also been remembered in recent weeks because a key Almaty ambassador was Kazakhstan's Olympic bronze medal winning figure skater, Denis Ten. 

Ten was died at the age of 25 last month after he was stabbed in a knife attack in Almaty.

"Three years ago today Beijing won the bid to host the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games!," the Organising Committee tweeted.

"We've been making steady progress in Games preparations since & will keep working hard in the years ahead. 

"We can't wait to have you all with us!"

Celebrations and events to further the promotion of snow sports in China have been held in various cities.

This included a National Youth Summer Ski Challenge in Beijing and another in Shenzen in South China in which around 100 people participated.

"We have launched a series of mass snow sports events and activities since the Winter Olympics entered 'Beijing Time'," Ding Dong, the deputy director of Winter Sport Management Centre of the State Sports General Administration, said.

"As an important part of the strategy of 'south exhibition and west expansion and eastward advancement', these events will surely attract more people to pay attention to and participate in the snow and ice sports, fully enjoy the happiness brought by the snow and ice sports, turning it into a way of life, which in turn promotes the goal of 'striking 300 million people to participate in the snow and ice movement'."