III Asian Winter Games

Host city	Harbin, Heilongjiang, China
Nations	15
Athletes	453
Events	43 in 8 sports
Opening	4 February 1996
Closing	11 February 1996
Opened by	Jiang Zemin President of China
Main venue	Baqu Arena
Summer
Winter

The 3rd Asian Winter Games (Chinese: 第三届亚洲冬季运动会; pinyin: Dì sān jiè yàzhōu dōngjì yùndònghuì) were held from February 4 to 11, 1996 in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.^[1] North Korea's Samjiyon was the original host for the games scheduled in 1995, but withdrew in August 1992. After the withdrawal, South Korea and then China submitted bids respectively. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) decided to elect the host cities for these 3rd games and the next 4th games simultaneously. On December 2, 1993, The OCA announced that the 3rd games would be held in China in 1996 and the 4th games would be held in South Korea in 1999.

Mascot

The 1996 Winter Asiad mascot is Doudou, a character inspired by the pea plant.^[2]

Sports

A total of 43 events in eight medal sports were held in the Third Winter Asian Games. Figure skating was reinstated and Freestyle skiing was added to the program.

Demonstration sport only:

• Ski jumping (2) ()

Participating nations

Names are arranged in alphabetical order.

Non-competing nations

•  Macau
•  Thailand

Medal table

  *   Host nation (China)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	China (CHN)*	15	7	15	37
2	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	14	9	8	31
3	Japan (JPN)	8	14	10	32
4	South Korea (KOR)	8	10	8	26
5	Uzbekistan (UZB)	0	1	1	2
Totals (5 entries)		45	41	42	128

References

• 제4회 강원 동계아시아경기대회 공식보고서 (The 4th Kangwon Asian Winter Games Official Report) (in Korean). The 4th Kangwon Asian Winter Games Organizing Committee. 30 August 1999.