China challenges the veracity of information that says Europe is the birthplace of skiing. The Bamboo Curtain country claims the sport actually originated in China more than 10,000 years ago.
The country's tourism agency said they had evidence of ancient rock art depicting people holding ski-like objects.
As quoted from the Daily Mail, Northern Europe has long been considered the place of origin of the sport of skiing, based on evidence in the form of ski-like equipment dating back to 2500 BC, found preserved in a peat swamp in a region in Sweden.
Skiing is the latest sport that China claims originates from its territory, after soccer, surfing and golf are also said to have originated there.
This finding has no known carbon date. But China insists they are proving Beijing worthy of hosting the Winter Olympics.
The local government took advantage of the opening ceremony of the sporting event to promote the beauty of Xinjiang. China has deliberately done so to deny the region's accusations of crimes against humanity, including mass detention, surveillance, and torture of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.
Findings of ancient paintings were also included to promote their territory. One local news broadcaster cited information that cited Xinjiang as the birthplace and future of skiing.
"You can see from the pictures that our ancestors from Palaeolithic times made skis for transportation and hunting in the snow. This is the earliest prototype of the sport of skiing," the announcer said.
Not only that, the official tourism site of Altay, a prefecture located in northern Xinjiang, has been changed to advertise the area as a place of origin for skiing.
Previously, Golf was also mentioned as a sport that originated in China, with claims from experts who said it could be traced back to the reign of the Nantang Dynasty in the 10th century.
Last year, another study claimed that the Chinese had been surfing since at least the 8th century, while in 2004 FIFA acknowledged that people in the Zhou Dynasty, from 1046 to 771 BC, played a game known as "kickball".
Boycott of China
A number of countries including the UK, US, Australia and Canada have carried out a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics over Beijing's human rights record.
That attitude means these countries are not willing to send high-ranking officials to China, but the athletes will still compete in the Winter Olympics which will take place from February 4-20, 2022.
In December, a London, UK court accused China of creating a horrific and frightening situation for the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang, committing genocide through forced sterilization and abortion authorized by Beijing's top officials.
"Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people in Xinjiang have been imprisoned without any justification," said chief justice Sir Geoffrey Nice QC.
The council, which investigates alleged human rights abuses, published its opinion after hearing allegations of torture, rape and inhumane treatment on two pieces of evidence last year. They added that Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials bear the ultimate responsibility for these events.
In response to this, the Beijing Government rejected the findings. China's rulers have denied the accusations were deliberately trumpeted as a cruel slander made by anti-China forces.