"Ice and Snow China" is a reportage that tells the 70-year development process of ice and snow sports in the mainland. With warm brushstrokes, he told the touching deeds, typical stories and achievements behind the ice and snow sports cause since the founding of New China, and outlined the Chinese's tenacious spirit of struggle and the lofty and touching patriotic spirit. The book is divided into eight chapters, telling the wonderful stories of ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, curling, freestyle skiing and other snow sports, as well as the important events and concepts since the mainland's preparation for the Winter Olympics.
Ice and Snow China
Ai Tian, Yang Zhanwu
Published by Shanxi Education Publishing House
Excerpts:
Ice Hockey: Set off a national ice and snow boom
Located in Beihai, the Yilantang Ice Rink has a long history, dating back to the entry of the Qing army into the customs, and was one of the important places where the Qing court held "ice frolic" performances in winter. In 1925, Beihai Park was built and opened to the public, and a special ice skating rink was opened in the winter of that year. However, this open-air skating rink is very different from today's international indoor skating hall, when the ice rink was surrounded by cedar and reed mats, which was very simple, but at that time it was also a place where young students and fashion-chasing people came and went, and for a time it became a place of "Internet celebrity punching card".
Deng Yunxiang's "Supplementary Yanjing Chronicle" records a white-haired old man who has been active at the Masquerade Ball of the Beihai Ice Rink for many years, and the old man's performances of "Stepping to the Sky" and "Golden Rooster Independence" are all authentic Chinese ice skating, and it is said that he is the "old offering" Wu Tongxuan who once performed for Cixi. On December 26, 1946, the "Xinmin Bao" also recorded this veteran on the ice: "(He) also often wore black satin cotton jackets and cotton pants, with white whiskers, and came to the Ice Rink of YilanTang, playing special tricks such as children worshiping Guanyin and stepping towards the sky, which caused a round of applause around him." ”
Every time Wu Tongxuan played, it was a beautiful landscape of the Yilantang Ice Rink. Surrounded by a dense crowd of people, one of them was a little boy of about six or seven years old, who had been staring intently at the old man's feet with wide eyes, learning how he glided. This little boy, named Wang Yingfu, is the first generation of ice hockey players in New China, which is very important in the development of ice and snow sports in New China, and has been hired as the referee of the World Group B and Group C Ice Hockey Championships and the Asian Ice Hockey Championship for many consecutive years. He has made significant contributions to the validation of rules and the introduction and teaching of modern ice hockey refereeing methods. He once served as the director of the Ice and Snow Division of the State Sports Commission and the secretary general of the China Ice Federation, and is the author of "Learn to Skate", "Learn to Swim", "Practical Swimming" and so on.
I learned hockey just for that handsomeness
"I'm going to eat sugar gourd!"
When he was a child, Wang Yingfu was naughty and active, and his eldest sister, who was 13 years older than him, took him to the Yilantang Ice Rink to skate, but he held the eldest sister's leg and played with lai, and had to eat sugar gourd, which attracted everyone to watch. The eldest sister was too embarrassed to do it, so she had to quickly buy him a sugar gourd. This interesting event is inseparable from the memory of skating, which makes Wang Yingfu remember it vividly. Every winter since then, he will run to Yilantang, Shichahai, Dongdan Ice Skating Rink and other places to skate.
At the Yilantang Ice Rink, Wang Yingfu's small eyes stared at the feet of the old man Wu Tongxuan, carefully learning the tricks of skating: the two feet must be corrected, and after stepping on the ice, the two feet must learn to use the inner blade and the outer blade, in order to slide forward and slide backwards freely... Through a little bit of thinking, year after year on the ice practice, by junior high school, Wang Yingfu has been able to use the blade back and forth to slide, turn, stop, and both feet can do the "8" basic skills of the inner and outer blades and the rotation of single and bipedal. On the ice rink, he wandered around and became a striking elf. Even Wang Yingfu himself did not expect that the skilled sliding kung fu he practiced as a child would lay a solid technical foundation for him to become an ice hockey player in the future.
For Wang Yingfu, the initial impression of ice hockey is this: a foreigner picked up a black robe, tucked it to his waist, held a club and ran wildly on the ice with the ball, and the handsome, fierce, unstoppable manhood was deeply engraved in Wang Yingfu's mind.
On the Ice Rink of Yilantang, Wang Yingfu and his friends found a teacher who could learn ice hockey techniques among their brothers who were much older than them- Da Pang (Pang Zhizhong). He had a white towel tucked around his waist and dribbled the ball on the ice, and the handsomeness of the general's demeanor attracted a group of small characters to chase. There is also Hou Zhihua, known as "Monkey Brother", who is also skilled, and his stunt of using the club to control the ball is like extending the third hand, firmly "sticking" the ball to the club, and no one can snatch it. Look at the small Zheng Jian, who quickly hit and shoot the ball against the wall of Yilan Hall, and the wonderful performance was eye-catching.
……
Soon, this group of children who were influenced by the skating of their predecessors naturally gathered together and became the first batch of teenagers in New China who loved ice hockey. At that time, it was not easy to find suitable equipment on the market, and everyone was trying to find ice hockey equipment to arm themselves. Wang Yingfu rummaged through the boxes and cabinets at home to find a pair of ice hockey shoes left by the eldest brother, and put them on and practiced, and it was this pair of shoes that accompanied him to the first National Winter Games.
In the blink of an eye, Wang Yingfu reached the age of fifteen or sixteen, when New China had just been founded, and everything was in ruins to be revitalized, and he was full of vitality. Wang Yingfu and his classmates are also in their youth, flesh and blood, positive, the pursuit of fresh stimulation and team spirit, which is very in line with the characteristics of ice hockey, so they naturally fell in love with ice hockey. From the third grade of junior high school until the end of high school, Wang Yingfu and his ice hockey team friends were almost inseparable. Not only do they fight side by side on the ice rink, they are also great friends in life. Especially in the winter, every day after school and throughout the winter vacation, they will ride their bicycles, rack up clubs, carry hockey shoes, and rush to the ice rink. In order to have a little more time to play ice hockey and practice skills, it is really "looking for ice like a treasure" and "cherishing ice like gold"!
One year, near the Spring Festival, the ice surface in Beijing was about to thaw, but the Yilantang Ice Rink was in the shade of the White Tower, so the ice surface was still intact, and the ice rink was open for the longest time, and the boys continued to play there. Once, when playing ice hockey, everyone even felt that the ice surface was shaking like a wave, but they were still reluctant to leave, and they cherished the last time on the ice!
In the early 1950s, Wang Yingfu played an ice hockey game in Shichahai
The first National Ice Sports Congress
The First National Ice Sports Congress held in Harbin from February 15 to 19, 1953 was an epoch-making milestone in the history of winter sports in the mainland. At that time, the athletes' costumes were all fleece pants, and each unit was distinguished by different team uniform colors.
In order to prepare for this ice and snow event, Harbin mobilized the strength of all walks of life to build an ice rink with a 400-meter standard speed skating track in the eight districts of Harbin City, with an ice rink (with a standard fence) and a figure skating competition venue in the middle. The ice rink is all poured with hot water, so the ice surface is very flat. A new podium was built on one side of the ice rink, connected to the one-sided grandstand. Because it is impossible to paint in winter, all the grandstand buildings are exposed with white stubble, and the ice and snow are covered, making this ice rink full of northern flavor.
The contestants stayed at the Madier Hotel on Central Avenue in Daoli District, which was a hotel prepared by foreigners before the founding of New China. The milk, Western food and "European" heritage of the whole street brought a different kind of interest to the participants.
From the residence to the venue, the congress rented a private car to pick up and drop off the athletes. These classic cars often break down due to gasoline shortages and can only burn charcoal, and the drivers are mostly White Russian expatriates, all of which bring freshness to athletes everywhere.
It was the holding of this sports congress that set off a wave of ice fever across the country.
Wang Yingfu and Yuying's teammates from the ice hockey team were also selected for the Beijing Ice Hockey Team. This national ice sports conference requires the participation of groups from national administrative regions and industries, and finally five teams from the Northeast Region, North China Region, Northwest China Region, the People's Liberation Army and the Locomotive Sports Association will participate. In order to form a representative team in North China, in early 1953, the North China Ice Hockey Team Selection Tournament was held at the Shichahai Ice Rink in Beijing, and only two teams from Beijing and Tianjin met. After fierce competition, the Beijing team finally won, and Wang Yingfu, Feng Jibai, Guan Runyan, Xu Chuanming, Pang Zhizhong, Hou Zhihua and most other members of the Beijing team were also naturally selected for the North China team.
In early February 1953, Wang Yingfu and his teammates took a train to Harbin to compete. At that time, Wang Yingfu was not yet 18 years old, and this was his first time out of the country, feeling both fresh and excited. Although the train speed of that era was very slow, and it took a day and a night to travel from Beijing to Harbin, the carriages were very lively. Among the members of the North China team who formed the North China team together, there are Pang Zhizhong, Hou Zhihua, Yuan Jiahua and other predecessors who are admired by everyone, and there is also teacher Li Baohua from Tianjin, who are all ice hockey players who are admired by everyone. Everyone gathered together, talked freely all the way, and laughter filled the entire carriage!
The first time he came to Harbin, known as the "Moscow of the East", Wang Yingfu felt that it was really worthy of the name. After staying at the Madier Hotel, everyone was immediately attracted by the Russian style overflowing with decoration, service and food inside. The Toudao Street, Lama Terrace, Qiulin Company, etc., which pass from the hotel to the stadium, are also Russian-style buildings, which makes these players from Beijing and Tianjin feel dizzy, fresh and interesting.
After arriving at the newly built sports venue in the eighth district, everyone was even more dazzled! It's almost all new wooden ice sports venues: three standard playing fields for ice events, an indoor lounge, dressing rooms, meeting rooms and a strong scent of pine. The audience stands and podiums are also not grand! It can be seen that the attention of the state and the Harbin Sports Committee is precisely because of careful preparation that such an effect can be presented!
Putting down their luggage, Wang Yingfu and his teammates came to the standard venue for pre-game training, and the players of the North China team were extremely excited. What's even more commendable is that the ice rink has a 1.22-meter-high boundary wall, so that the ball is no longer easy to get out of bounds. The use of boundary walls can also play a variety of rebound balls, enriching the technical and tactical play; the ball, passing people also have more ball paths; the use of walls can also squeeze, paste and grab the ball. In this standard venue, the five marking lines are drawn very clearly, and the most characteristic offside and dead ball regulations in the game will not be easily missed when playing in such a field. You know, in the past, the ice hockey team often played and practiced in irregular venues, because there was no boundary wall, the players of the North China team did not dare to rush, collide, nor dare to have physical contact, afraid of going out of bounds, and thus lost many important techniques of ice hockey, and even some people commented that Beijing's ice hockey is very "civilized", like a big girl!
After a brief adaptation to the bounded walled field, the game officially begins. The ice hockey competition of this sports conference adopts a single round robin system, and the North China team first competed with the northwest team. With the good gliding foundation laid from childhood, the players of the North China team not only slid in a straight line, but also slid in a curved line very quickly, winning more breakthroughs and scoring opportunities. Most of the players of the Northwest team are beginners, unskilled in sliding, and the speed cannot go up, so the North China team attacked three passes and two passes to the goal, and easily scored the goal. In the end, the North China team won by a big score.
1953 National Ice Sports Conference North China Ice Hockey Team
The People's Liberation Army and the Lokomotiv team each have one or two outstanding players, such as Sun Mengxiong of the People's Liberation Army team, who is fast and has strong breakthrough ability, and the North China team knows about it before the game, he fights "one dragon" alone, and one person supports a team. But everyone was not worried, and they developed a corresponding tactic - just send someone to keep an eye on it and not let him get up. In the end, the North China team firmly restrained Sun Mengxiong in the ball game against the Liberation Army and won the victory.
At the closing ceremony, the North China team that entered the final encountered the strongest host team, the Northeast Team. The Northeast team has a long training time, the strength of the whole team is average, and there are two Russian players, known as "major repair" and "second repair" (No. 17 Xiu Fuxi and No. 19 Xiu Fulu), the two are comprehensive in technology and cooperate tacitly. There is also a player, Lao Han (No. 18 Han Hyo-chang), who shoots fast and fiercely, and is good at long-range shooting. The Northeast team plays fiercely, in contrast, the North China team is dexterous and witty, with tacit understanding, good offensive and defensive skills, and the basic skills of goalkeepers are also better.
The final was a wonderful one, the two sides fought hard, the characteristics of both teams were fully utilized, and the three quarters of the game were difficult to solve. In the end, the North China team lost 5:8 to the Northeast team and won the second place.
There is also a legend in the first national ice sports conference, that is, Mu Xiangxiong, who represented the North China team. This is a famous swimmer. He was selected as a speed skater in the North China Selection Competition with excellent results. This also reflects that in the early days of the founding of New China, especially in the developed areas of Beijing-Tianjin sports, there were a number of outstanding sports talents, who skated in winter and swam in summer, and achieved good results. The Mu family brothers and sisters are typical representatives, and the sister Mu Xiulan, together with her younger brother Mu Xiangxiong and younger sister Mu Xiuzhen, was selected and became a landscape for the North China speed skating team in the first ice games. Mu Xiangxiong's leg strength is amazing, both swimming and skating, thanks to the Mu family's family kung fu - "Mu Family Thirteen Style", this set of kung fu is very effective for the exercise of leg strength. As a result, the athletes of the North China representative team also took this opportunity to follow Mu Xiangxiong to learn from the scriptures, and practiced the "Mu Family Thirteen Style" with him every morning.
Looking back now, after entering the high-level special training, due to the different characteristics of each project, the strength of some projects is contradictory, and some are complementary. For example, ice sports and swimming, the two for the legs and ankle strength requirements are actually different, should not choose both. However, in that era when the understanding of training had not yet reached a certain height, there was also the idea of setting up a water ice system (gathering a group of water ice talents) in the Beijing Sports Academy, but fortunately it was corrected later. The swimming community then coordinated Mu Xiangxiong's juggling problem in time, exerting his talent in swimming and breaking the world record in 1959!
In addition to ice hockey, the first national ice sports conference also set up speed skating, figure skating and other sports, 196 athletes participated in the competition. This competition created the first national records for the new Chinese speed skating project. Although the level cannot be compared with the later period, it is of great significance in the history of the development of ice and snow sports in China, and has opened a chapter in the development of Ice and Snow Sports in China. This ice sports conference is more like a big party, the field you compete with each other, in full swing; the teams under the field are enthusiastically discussed, exchanged, and customs and folk songs from all over the country meet together. Each contestant was an eye-opener and made friends.
(This article is excerpted from "Ice and Snow China", with abridgements)
Author: Ai Tian Yang Zhanwu
Editor: Zhou Yiqian