Day 12 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Hundreds of millions of people are tuning in to watch the Beijing Winter Olympics across the host nation China, which has a population of 1.4 billion.

"So far, almost 600 million people have watched the Games on TV in China. Of course, we expect this figure to rise," said Timo Lumme, managing director of television and marketing services for the International Olympic Committee.

About 2 billion people worldwide will watch the Beijing Games, Lumme added.

Globally, half a billion people tuned in for the opening ceremony — the highest ever for a Winter Olympics.

Two months ago, I called my grandma to tell her I'd be in Beijing for the Winter Olympics. She was thrilled.

But I explained that even though we'd be in the same city, I wouldn't be able to see her. I'd be in a strict bubble, separate from the rest of China's population. My grandma said not to worry. Just focus on your work, she said.

I lived in Beijing before taking up a posting in Tokyo early in the pandemic. When I left, I wasn't sure when I'd see my grandma again. China's borders have been virtually closed for two years because of Covid, and the government has accepted limited visas for journalists.

The Winter Olympics offered a rare chance for me to return to the country.

Yet within the Olympic closed loop, it's as if I'm traversing the city in a glass box, unable to experience the Beijing I know. Hotels and venues are surrounded by temporary walls and security, workers in hazmat suits wait tables or take my Covid test.

So when I noticed a bridge near my hotel that allowed Beijing residents to look down into the closed loop, within the temporary walls, I saw a window of opportunity to see my grandma. I dropped a location pin to my relatives, and told them that unfortunately, this was the closest we could get.

Still, my grandma was delighted, arriving 20 minutes early in her nicest winter coat. I yelled Happy New Year in Mandarin as loud as I could, as she's hard of hearing, and jumped up and down. She took off her mask and smiled broadly, her face crinkling at the edges.

Our meeting was emblematic of the isolation the world has dealt with since the pandemic began.

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Chinese figure skater Zhu Yi bounced back Tuesday from a torrent of social media criticism as she was cheered on to a solid showing in the short program of the individual event.

The 19-year-old was the subject of widespread vitriol on Chinese social media following a fall in the team short program on Feb. 6. The next day, she broke down in tears after falling twice during the team free skate to finish fifth for her routine.

Yet from the minute she took to the rink for her short program individual routine yesterday, Zhu received nothing but support from the crowd at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium.

Her entrance was welcomed by roaring applause and shouts of "add oil" — the Chinese equivalent of "go go" — according to CNN staff in the stands.

After her performance, Zhu told CNN she is "very grateful" and has received "a lot of support."

Zhu was born in the United States but was picked for China at the Winter Olympics. Asked about being an American representing China, Zhu said at first it was a "hard transition."

Zhu said the online hate she received following her falls hurt her in the beginning.

"But I was able to just see it from a different side and just keep doing my best," she said. "I'm a normal girl here just trying to live up to the Olympics experience and enjoy this time."

On comparisons to teammate skier Eileen Gu, who also is also American born, Zhu said "being a Chinese American there’s a lot of good things from both sides."

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva topped the short program yesterday, ensuring an Olympic doping controversy will hang over Thursday's free skate finals.

Valieva's case won't be concluded before the end of the Beijing Winter Games and that means her rivals will miss out on a medal ceremony if the Russian teen makes it onto the podium.

Here's what other figure skaters had to say, following Tuesday's short program:

Great Britain's Natasha McKay said she sympathizes with whoever places in the top three skaters in the final.

Sweden's Josefin Taljegard said she chose to focus on her performance and not the controversy surrounding the sport.

Team USA's Mariah Bell said she's a huge advocate for clean sport.

"I feel sad for my teammates. It seems wrong to punish people who have done things the right way. I think it's a tough situation for everyone and she's young," Bell said of Valieva. The US won silver in the team skating event, behind ROC's gold.

Bell, 25, said she supports the idea of raising the minimum competition age of 15 for figure skating. A top sports court allowed Valieva to continue competing, partly because she was a minor and as such treated as a "protected person."

The USA dominated the men's freeski slopestyle podium on Wednesday, with Alex Hall clinching the gold with a best score of 90.01 — his first Olympic medal.

Teammate Nick Goepper came second, scoring 86.48 at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou to repeat his silver-medal finish at Pyeongchang 2018.

Sweden's Jesper Tjader took bronze with 85.35.

The curling women's round robin is in full swing on Wednesday, with the men due up later at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing — colloquially known as the Ice Cube during the Winter Olympics.

But what exactly is curling and why has it become must-watch TV?

What is curling's format? Curling is a team sport — either men's, women's or mixed — played on ice.

Two teams take turns sliding the granite stones across a 150-foot long,15-foot-7-inch wide sheet of ice towards a target which is known as the house.

Traditional curling teams are made up of four players, with mixed teams featuring two males and two females or one male and one female if it's mixed doubles.

In team curling, each player slides two consecutive stones, alternating with an opponent, in each round — known as an end.

When did curling start? Although its exact origins can't be accurately traced, curling is a sport believed to have originated in the 16th century. While an exact date can't be pinpointed, according to the World Curling Federation, the sport was played during its early stages on frozen lochs and ponds in northern Europe.

It wasn't until 1992 that the International Olympic Committee granted medal status to men's and women's curling. It was introduced to the Winter Olympics in 1998 in Japan and has gone on to be a regular inclusion.

What is needed to play curling? Curling stones are made from a special type of granite and weigh almost 20 kilograms (about 44 pounds).

Each curler has their own brush and a specific type of shoe specialized for the sport. In each pair of shoes, one sole grips the ice, while the other is more slippery — called a slider — allowing players to slide with the stone when they're playing it.

The brush is used by players to sweep in front of the stone to warm its path, allowing it to travel further if desired.

How do you score points? At each side of the playing surface, there are a series of rings similar to a target — the house. This helps players determine which stones are closest to the center.

Once an end is completed, a team scores one point for each of its stones in or touching the house that are closer to the center than any of the opposition team's stones.

A curling game is competed over 10 ends and the team with the most points wins.

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It's Day 12 of the Beijing Winter Olympics, with upcoming battles for medals in the men's slalom and freestyle ski. Meanwhile, the short track speed skating event comes to an end.

Here's what's on tap for Wednesday:

⛷ The men's slalom is wide open: It's hard to pick a favorite today in alpine skiing following the retirement of Swedish Olympic champion Andre Myhrer. Norwegian Sebastian Foss-Solevåg is the world champion, but his countryman Lucas Braathen is the current World Cup slalom leader. There have been no fewer than six different race winners in six World Cup slalom races this season, including first-time victories from Braathen, Austria's Johannes Strolz and Great Britain's Dave Ryding, who at 35 years old became the oldest winner of a men’s World Cup slalom earlier this year. 

⛷ Rivals riding high into men's freestyle ski: Tuesday's qualification gave us a glimpse at the spectacle that awaits in the men's freestyle ski slopestyle final. Even at -23C these riders brought the heat in qualifying. Swiss skier Andri Ragettli topped the standings at the Great Wall-inspired course, but big air gold medalist Birk Ruud was hot on his heels and USA skier Nicholas Goepper qualified third. The US team will make a three-pronged attack at the podium on Wednesday. But sandwiched between the Stars and Stripes was Sweden's Jesper Tjader who is also eyeing up the medal positions.

⛸Short track speed skating's grand finale: Two finals wrap up today: the men's 5,000m relay and the women's 1,500m. The latter event sees reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Choi Minjeong of South Korea go up against teammate Lee Yubin, who has won two of the four 1,500m World Cup races this season. Dutch superstar Suzanne Schulting is the reigning world champion in the event, and has already won two gold medals and a silver at these Games. Meanwhile, Canada's Charles Hamelin, a five-time medalist competing at his fifth Games, will skate in his final Olympic short-track race. No matter the outcome, he will leave behind a legacy as his country's greatest ever short track athlete. Also in the men's 5,000m relay, Hwang Dae-heon leads the impressive South Korean team.

Heading into Day 12 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, here's where the teams rank in the medal standings:

Hosts China are in sixth position with six golds, four silvers and two bronzes — the host team's best ever Winter Olympics return.

Embattled teen skater Kamila Valieva topped the leaderboard after her short program on Tuesday and China is enjoying its most-decorated Winter Olympics.

Here's what you need to know about Day 11:

⛸ Russian skater's emotional show: Kamila Valieva is through to the free skate medal event after posting the top score in Tuesday's short program. Valieva broke into tears as she posted an 82.16 just days after learning she'd be permitted to compete despite a December failed drug test,

🛢Chinese skater rebounds: "Add oil," is the Chinese equivalent of "go go" — and it's just what figure skater Zhu Yi needed to hear as the 19-year-old landed all of her jumps and earned a respectable score of 53.44. A series of falls in previous skates unleashed fury against Zhu on Chinese social media. But after solidly rebounding, she allowed a smile to cross her face. She finished 27th and didn't qualify for the medal event.

🥇 China's best Winter Olympics haul: The host nation cemented it's most-decorated Winter Games as teen snowboarder Su Yiming earned gold in the big air event. China has six gold medals, passing the team's previous high of five at Vancouver 2010. At age 17, Su is China's youngest-ever Winter Olympic champion.

⛷ Mom knows best: Eileen Gu's Olympic dreams were sinking fast. So the 18-year-old did what many teens might: she phoned home. After plummeting into 8th position, and with a podium finish seeming unlikely, the skiing sensation reached out to her mom. "My mum knows me very well and she knows the way my brain works with pressure," Gu said. She then put her mom's advice into action, ripping off a remarkable final run, good enough to get her back into contention. She'd ultimately earn silver in the women's freeski slopestyle, proving once again, that "Mom knows best."