The Covenant of Ice and Snow witnesses the fusion of the Olympic spirit and Chinese elements

The Winter Olympics are on the front line

Chen Lei, all-media reporter of Rule of Law Daily

Recently, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference that the opening of the Winter Olympics coincided with the Chinese Lunar New Year, and it is believed that this ice and snow covenant will once again witness the integration of the Olympic spirit and Chinese elements.

When visiting Beijing, the reporter of "Rule of Law Daily" noticed that whether it is the "ice ribbon" and "snow flying sky" of the Winter Olympic venues, or the "ice pier" and "snow melting" of the Winter Olympic mascot, or the sports icon "Little Red Man" in the Beijing Winter Olympic Park, traditional Chinese elements can be seen everywhere.

Experts interviewed by reporters believe that Beijing is a "city of two Olympic Games", how to let athletes from all over the world feel the unique and unique Chinese elements of hosting the Winter Olympics in China are indispensable, and we display Chinese elements through modern design language, which is not only a confident expression of Chinese cultural connotation, but also a fusion with the Olympic spirit.

Tell the story of China to the world

On January 31, the Chinese New Year's Eve of the lunar new year, Beijing blew four or five strong winds, blowing the sky blue. On the morning of the same day, the reporter rushed to the northwest corner of the Olympic Forest Park, where the National Speed Skating Hall, one of the landmark buildings of the Beijing Winter Olympics, is also known as the "Ice Ribbon".

Outside the gate of the National Speed Skating Hall, there are police and staff on duty, for the needs of epidemic prevention and control, reporters can not get close to the Winter Olympic venues. Standing on the side of the road, it can be seen that its exterior is surrounded by 22 crystalline "ribbon"-like curved glass curtain walls.

According to the data, the National Speed Skating Hall has the largest all-ice design in Asia, with an ice surface area of 12,000 square meters, and during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the "ice ribbon" is a speed skating competition venue, and the athletes slide out of the trajectory like a ribbon when gliding on the high-speed ice track.

Subsequently, the reporter rushed to the Shougang Park located in the Shijingshan District of Beijing, and the Shougang Ski Jump was located in the southwest corner of the Shougang Park.

As the chief designer of the Shougang Ski Jump and dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, Zhang Li said that from ski jumping to take-off, tumbling and landing, what kind of Chinese cultural element symbols are used to express the dynamic curves behind these actions? The sport' English name is Big Air, which maximizes its flight into the air, and China's flying sky also leaps in the air. Oriental painting expresses the traces of the dynamic human body through the trajectory of clothing, so the Dunhuang flying streamer is the best carrier to express the dynamic curve of this sport.

In addition, the Winter Olympic venues also include "Xue FeiYan", "Snow Dragon" and "Snow Ruyi", which are extracted from the traditional Chinese cultural image elements.

Wu Yixia, general manager of China Construction Cultural Tourism Development Co., Ltd., was the deputy chief designer of the planning and design of the Beijing Summer Olympic Forest Park, and is also an expert in the field of engineering construction for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. She told reporters that when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympic Games, many design concepts reflected Chinese culture. For example, the Olympic Forest Park, the location is located on the central axis of the unique Beijing City in the world, the idea of the Olympic Forest Park is the "axis to nature", and the concept of Chinese garden design is deeply integrated.

In Wu Yixia's view, the Winter Olympic venues are a combination of modern building technology and Chinese elements, is a very good idea, when athletes from all over the world are in it, they will definitely be interested in novel Chinese elements, when we introduce Chinese elements to them, we will bring Chinese stories such as "Ruyi" and "Feitian" to the world.

Meet the needs of the mass movement

Shougang Park, which is adjacent to the Yongding River to the west, has been built as a Beijing Winter Olympic Park.

The reporter swept the health treasure into the Lianshi Lake area of the Beijing Winter Olympic Park, and the entrance to the eye was both the 6 golden characters of "Beijing Winter Olympic Park" engraved on a whole stone, and a Winter Olympic torch sculpture standing next to it, and the torch shape transitioned from bottom to top from the auspicious cloud pattern to the snowflake pattern.

Every few meters around the perimeter stands a red sports icon, with seal carving art as the main form of presentation, reflecting the feeling of relaxed and jumping movement.

At this time, a middle-aged woman was holding a mobile phone to shoot at the sports icon.

On the lampposts of the park are hung a slogan: "Let's go to the future together."

The conceptual planning of Beijing Winter Olympic Park was completed by the team led by Wu Yixia. Located in one of the three major cultural belts in Beijing, namely the Yongdinghe Cultural Belt in Xishan, Wu Yixia led the team to provide planning and design services in Shijingshan District.

As an expert in the field of engineering construction for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, Wu Yixia led the team to re-transform and utilize the abandoned industrial land, plant facilities and facilities in the past, restore the urban green ecology, and build a new urban marathon base camp and become an important part of the Beijing Winter Olympic Park.

This idea has been highly valued and recognized by the Shijingshan District Committee and the District Government of Beijing Municipality, and has been successfully implemented in the implementation and construction stage of beijing Winter Olympic Park.

Wu Yixia said that the Beijing Winter Olympic Park, which has been built, is a typical case of the fusion of Olympic culture and Chinese elements, including the industrial cultural heritage of Shougang, the culture of Beijing's mother River Yongdinghe, and the culture of Xishan Ancient Road, which are integrated into the park, carrying people's needs for sports and yearning for a better life, which is in line with the modern Olympic spirit, that is, everyone should enjoy the opportunity to engage in sports.

Cultural expression is more confident

In October 2021, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee released the shape of the medals of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The medal is composed of a ring and a center, and the image is derived from the ancient Chinese concentric circle jade bi, with a total of five rings. The five rings are concentric and concentric, expressing the Chinese cultural connotation of "the unity of heaven and earth and the unity of the people", and also symbolizes that the Olympic spirit brings together the people of the world to share the glory of the Winter Olympics.

The center of the front of the medal is engraved with the Olympic five rings logo, and the full English name of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is engraved around it. The ring is treated with a depression, which means the traditional string pattern jade bi, and the lightly carved decorative pattern on it comes from the traditional Chinese pattern. Among them, the ice and snow patterns show the characteristics of the Winter Olympic Games, and the auspicious cloud pattern conveys the auspicious meaning.

The back of the medal is engraved with 24 dots and sports arcs, which are inspired by ancient astronomical maps, symbolizing the vast starry sky, the harmony between man and nature, and also symbolizing the athletes of the 24th Winter Olympics who are shining like stars and writing wonderful chapters.

"In ancient China, one of the uses of jade bi was to pray for blessings, and concentric circles also symbolized our feelings of communication with heaven and earth, praying for peace and unity of mankind." Wu Yixia said.

On the streets of Beijing, the emblem of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Winter Dream", can also be seen everywhere, using the Chinese character "winter" as the source of inspiration and using the art form of Chinese calligraphy. There is also a mascot "Ice Pier", which is designed and created based on the national treasure panda; the mascot "Snow Rongrong", which is designed and created based on the mainland lantern.

Chen Shaofeng, professor of the Department of Philosophy of Peking University and vice president of the Institute of Cultural Industries of Peking University, said in an interview with reporters that the Beijing Winter Olympics will use many Chinese cultural elements, which will help the international community use this platform to better understand Chinese culture.

For example, Chen Shaofeng said that jade is one of the core elements of traditional Chinese culture, and the combination of ice and snow and jade has an integrated trend, and the combination of the two is very creative. In addition, these Chinese elements are organically compatible with all aspects of the Winter Olympics, which is also a good way to experience the world.

"Whether it is medals or architecture, they all reflect that the cultural expression in the Beijing Winter Olympics is more inclusive, more diverse, and more confident, reflecting the meteorology of a big country and the long history and culture." Wu Yixia said that in addition, Chinese culture is very unique and modern, especially with the help of modern design capabilities, it has the ability to pass on from generation to generation, which is also the message transmitted by the Beijing Winter Olympics to the world.