Coubertin manuscripts, torches of previous Winter Olympic Games, Beijing Winter Olympic Exhibition... Zhangjiakou Chongli Overseas Chinese Ice and Snow Museum was inaugurated a few days ago. With a total area of more than 24,000 square meters, the main building of the museum is the largest and most abundant ice and snow and Winter Olympics theme museum in China, and will also become a rich cultural heritage left to China by the 2022 Winter Olympics.
World skiing originated in China
The Overseas Chinese Ice and Snow Museum is mainly composed of 6 permanent exhibition halls and 1 temporary exhibition hall, such as the Prologue Hall, the History Hall of the Development of Ice and Snow Sports in China, the Hall of the Winter Olympics, the Beijing Winter Olympic Hall, and the Interactive Experience Area of Ice and Snow Sports, which mainly collects and concentrates on the history and development of the world's ice and snow sports, and the physical objects, pictures and video materials in the bidding, preparation and holding of previous Winter Olympic Games and the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, systematically and graphically showing the origin of world ice and snow sports. The whole process of development and the fruits achieved.
In the China Ice and Snow Sports Exhibition Hall, 4 pairs of yellow fur skis were displayed vertically, which attracted the attention of reporters. These items are skis in the contemporary Altay region of Xinjiang, where ancestors actually skied a long time ago. According to the staff, the ski petroglyphs found in Altay, Xinjiang, show that about 10,000 years ago, China's ancestors began skiing activities. People living in cold areas have mastered skiing skills and use them in daily travel and hunting, while in the northern surface water ice season, people living in towns have made various types of skates, ice beds, etc., for ice entertainment activities. In the Altay Declaration issued in 2006, it was officially proposed that the Altay region of Xinjiang, China is the earliest origin of skiing in the world.
The corner of the exhibition hall is introduced with the scene of the Hezhe dog sledding, and the top presents the audience with a dynamic ice play map through two staggered ice screens. Through the Nakajima booth, the scene and the physical object are displayed intensively, and the geometric shape on the right carries the plate information of the relevant units, thus bringing a more diverse viewing experience to the audience.
Coubertin's manuscripts show a sense of age
Inside the exhibition hall, a manuscript in a glass frame attracted a lot of attention. This is the manuscript of Coubertin, the "father of the modern Olympics". Li Mo, deputy director of the Sports Bureau of Chongli District, Zhangjiakou, told reporters that the manuscript was written in French from March 29, 1929, when coubertin wrote to a colleague in a hotel in Provence, hoping that the colleague would arrange for him to meet with the chairman of the Olympic Organizing Committee in Amsterdam at the Marseille railway station. "The most precious thing about it is that there are not many surviving manuscripts of Coubertin, and this one is one of the few written on official paper with the IOC's five-ring logo." Li Mo said.
It is worth noting that the Ice museum also houses the torches of previous Winter Olympics. Among them, the torch of the 6th Oslo Winter Olympics in 1952, as the first torch in the history of the Winter Olympics, is particularly precious. Li Mo said that this is the first official ignition ceremony in the history of the Winter Olympics, and the fire was collected from the fire in the home of the famous Norwegian skier Nurheim. The flat tray on top of the torch, inspired by the shape of the torch stand at the 1936 Winter Olympics, also prevents the arm from burning after the magnesium rod placed in the torch center burns. The torch of the 11th Sapporo Winter Olympics in 1972, as the first time the Winter Olympics were held in Asia and lit, is also of great significance.
Specially set up the Beijing Winter Olympic Exhibition
In the exhibition hall of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the exhibition is divided into "Bidding for the Winter Olympics" and "Preparing for the Winter Olympics". In the opening part, "The Dream of the Olympic Bid" is played through the exhibition logo and ice screen, reflecting China's unremitting efforts for the dream of the Winter Olympics, and the left side is arranged in order of display, focusing on the Winter Olympic emblem, LOGO and mascot and other Winter Olympic achievements. This exhibition area focuses on the construction of each competition area in the preparatory process. There is an immersive experience hall in the exhibition hall, where visitors can experience multi-person skiing interactive projects.
As the world's first "city of two Olympic Games", Beijing will always uphold the olympic concept of "green, shared, open and clean", and create a rich Olympic legacy for the general public, the host city and the country. The Dream of the Winter Olympics meets the Chinese Dream, taking the Winter Olympics as an opportunity to promote the ice and snow sports of the whole people, unite the Chinese national spirit, and unite the strength of hundreds of millions of people, which will surely open a new journey to realize the dream.
It is understood that the museum was donated by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese (hereinafter referred to as the "China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese") at home and abroad, and began construction in June 2020, with the participation of nearly 30,000 overseas Chinese from 53 countries and regions. As of December 2021, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese has collected and purchased more than 6,000 pieces of ice and snow sports collections at home and abroad for museums.