Ice and Snow Sports in China

Ice and Snow Sports in China

Ai Tian， Yang Zhanwu

Shanxi Education Publishing House

February 2022

128.00 (CNY)

As a reportage narrating the development of China’s ice and snow sports， this book was written on occasion of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The book contains eight chapters， narrating wonderful stories about ice hockey， figure skating， speed skating， short track speed skating， curling， freestyle skiing， and other winter sports. In addition， it introduces some important events in China’s preparation for the Olympic Winter Games， which represent China’s philosophy of hosting the Winter Olympics and presence of a major country.

Ai Tian

Ai Tian， whose real name is Wang Xiangna， is a journalist for China Sports Daily and started to report ice and snow sports in 2003. She has interviewed at many international ice and snow sports events， such as the 2006 Torino Olympic Winter Games， the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games， the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games， and the 2009 Harbin Winter Universiade. In addition， she has interviewed at many comprehensive winter sports meetings at home and abroad， including the World Championship， World Cup， Grand Prix， and National Winter Games of the People’s Republic of China.

Yang Zhanwu

Yang Zhanwu is a researcher at the Humanistic Olympic Studies Center， Renmin University of China. She used to be the leader of the China Short Track Speed Skating Team. During the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games， she led her team winning all four gold medals in the women’s short track speed skating events. From the year 2014， she participated in the bidding and preparation of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. She served as the head of the Sports Department of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bidding Committee， General Planning Department and Venue Management Department of Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games， and other departments and offices. She wrote A Research on the Existence of Amateurism in American University Sports， and compiled the Annual Report on Development of Ice Industry in China (2017)， A Concise Reader for the Staff of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games， Have Fun at Olympic Winter Games， etc.

“I want to eat sugar-coated haws on a stick!”

When he was a child， Wang Yingfu was naughty and lively. His eldest sister， who was 13 years older than him， took him to Yilantang Skating Rink， while he acted like a spoiled child， holding her leg in his arms and asking for sugar-coated haws on a stick. This attracted the attention of onlookers. His sister was so ashamed that she had to buy sugar-coated haws on a stick for him. This funny story clings to his memories of skating. From then on， he went skating at the Yilantang， Shichahai， and Dongdan skating rinks every winter.

On Yilantang Rink， Wang Yingfu stared at Mr. Wu Tongxuan’s footwork movements with his small bright eyes， and carefully learned the techniques of skating. The feet should be aligned; after pushing off the ice， he should learn to use the inside edges and the outside edges， so that his feet can freely slide forward and backward. After learning little by little， and exercising year after year， when he was in junior middle school， Wang Yingfu could freely skate forward and backward， make turns， and" stop on a dime with the edges. He could also exercise the basic skill of a “figure-eight” with inside and outside edges， and spin with a single foot or both feet. He darted around the skating rink and became an eye-catching elf. But Wang Yingfu didn’t expect that the proficient skating skills he exercised in his childhood would lay a solid technical foundation for him to become an ice hockey player in the future.

Wang Yingfu’s initial impression of ice hockey was that a foreigner lifted his black robe and tucked it around his waist， then he ran crazily on the ice， with a stick in his hands handling the puck. The cool， strong， vigorous man was engraved in his mind.

On Yilantang Rink， Wang Yingfu and his friends found a teacher， Dapang (Pang Zhizhong)， among their big brothers. They learned ice hockey skills from him. With a white towel tucked around his waist， he darted on the ice stickhandling the puck. His valiant and heroic style attracted the pursuit of those young boys. Hou Zhihua， with the nickname “Monkey”， was also highly skilled. He controlled the puck with the stick as if it had been his third hand. The puck seemed to be “pasted” on his stick， and nobody could steal it. Zheng Jian was not tall， but he could hit and shoot the puck towards the wall around the rink. His brilliant performance was very impressive.

Very quickly， these children， influenced by the seniors in ice sports， gathered naturally and became the first batch of teenagers who loved ice hockey in New China. At that time， it was not easy to find suitable equipment in the market， and everyone was trying to find ice hockey gear to equip themselves. Wang Yingfu rummaged around his house and found a pair of hockey skates left by his eldest brother. He managed to practice in this pair of hockey skates， which he had been wearing by the time he participated in the first National Winter Games.

In the blink of an eye， Wang Yingfu was around 15 years old when the People’s Republic of China was founded， and all industries were waiting to be rebuilt. Wang Yingfu and his classmates were energetic， active teenagers who pursued freshness， excitement， and teamwork. These spirits coincided with ice hockey. Thus， they naturally loved this sports event. Wang Yingfu and his teammates were almost inseparable， from Grade 3 to his graduation from senior high school. They fought shoulder to shoulder on the rink and were friends in daily life. Especially in winter， after school， and during the whole winter vacation， they would rush to the rink by bicycle with their stick and hockey skates in hand. To spend more time exercising their skills， they looked everywhere for ice rinks and raced against time!

One year， when Spring Festival was approaching， the ice in Beijing was about to thaw. However， Yilantang Rink， located in the shade of the White Pagoda， had fairly complete ice and was open for the longest time. Thus， the guys continued to play there. One day， when they were playing ice hockey， they felt the ice was shaking like waves， but everyone was reluctant to leave. They all cherished the last days on the ice!