(Yicai Global) Jan. 11 -- Vending more than 140 kinds of licensed merchandise in six categories, the first seven licensed retail outlets for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games in 2022 officially opened to the public yesterday in Beijing.

The games' organizing committee held an opening ceremony for them, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. The stores are decorated in blue tones embellished with white snowflakes to suggest the Winter Games' hues.

Another eight shops will open this month, including five more in Beijing, and one each in Shijiazhuang, the capital of eastern Hebei province, Shanghai and Nanjing, the capital of south-coastal Jiangsu province.

The committee will issue more licensed memorabilia in the next four years, said Pu Xuedong, director of the committee's market development department.

Beijing and Zhangjiakou in Hebei will jointly host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20. A high-speed rail line under construction will connect the two cities by 2020, and reduce travel time along the 175-kilometer stretch to 50 minutes from its current three hours. 

This will be the first time for China to hold the Winter Games, following Beijing's successful first-time hosting of the Summer Games in 2008.