Torchbearer Tang Xiongyan: The Winter Olympic boom has led me, a southerner, to learn to ski

"From the 2008 Olympic Games to this year's Winter Olympics, information and communication technology has changed too fast in the past 14 years, which can be said to be a major change in the communications industry." As the 63rd torchbearer, when Tang Xiongyan participated in the Summer Palace Torch Relay, in addition to the excitement and excitement that could not be expressed in words, there were too many emotions in his heart.

As the vice president and chief scientist of China Unicom Research Institute, this time becoming the torchbearer of the Winter Olympics is the second time that Tang Xiongyan has met with the Olympic Games. In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, as the person in charge of the development of the "Olympic City Pass" information system, he presided over the national science and technology Olympic special project, and participated in the formulation of communication technology plans from the olympic bid to the specific communication service support work during the Olympic Games.

From the "Broadband Olympics" in 2008 to the "Smart Winter Olympics" in 2022, from 2G PHS to 5G smartphones, these are the epitome of the rapid development of China's communication technology. Tang Xiongyan said that when the Beijing Olympics were just starting out, the mobile phone basically only had the function of ordinary text messages and calls, and the whole family gathered in the living room to watch live broadcasts through TV was almost the only way. Now it's different, from the perspective of terminal equipment, people no longer rely on TV, and can watch the game from multiple perspectives on 5G mobile phones through cloud broadcasting. The development of intelligent broadband networks has spawned ultra-high-definition video and new services such as VR and AR, "The current technological development is completely unimaginable." ”

Speaking of the ice and snow sports projects of the Winter Olympics, Tang Xiongyan said that he is a southerner, and his understanding of the Winter Olympics in the past is almost blank. With the upsurge of preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics in recent years, he also began to pay attention to some ice and snow sports, cultivate his own interest, and also went to Chongli to learn skiing. "After contact and understanding, I feel that the ice and snow project is very attractive, reflecting the combination of speed, strength and beauty." Tang Xiongyan said that he has become a part of "driving 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports".

"I hope that the Beijing Winter Olympics can become a wonderful Winter Olympics, which is not only reflected in the performance of athletes on the field, but also in technological innovations such as smart venues and high-quality communication service guarantees." For the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, he has such expectations and blessings.