"We Asia, the mountains are high heads, we Asia, the river is like a stream of blood..."
What is your earliest memory of the Asian Games? Some people say that in order to watch the Beijing Asian Games, the black-and-white TV at home was replaced with color, and now there are still treasured badges and toys of the mascot giant panda "Panpan"...
Some people may say that I was not born in 1990, but almost everyone will hum the melody of "Asian Heroes".
On the 23rd, the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou officially opened. From 1990 to 2023, in 33 years, the Asian Games have landed in Chinese cities three times.
Those fragments of memories of the Asian Games have also become a part of our lives.
01
"Asian Heroes"
In 1990, the song "Asian Heroes" became popular all over the country and became one of the strongest memories of countless people for the Asian Games. Because the degree of singing is so high, many people forget that in fact, it was not the theme song of the Asian Games but a propaganda song.
Some netizens recalled, "I was 5 years old that year, and my family sat in front of the black and white TV set of the panda brand to watch the Asian Games program. One of the most impressive is this song, although I didn't know how to appreciate music as a child, but in that era this song gave me the emotional edification to cheer up and strive for progress. ”
Composer Xu Peidong remembers sitting at the piano, playing and finding the melody, and then finding his old friend Zhang Quan, and writing the lyrics in less than a week. In his opinion, the spirit contained in "Asian Heroes" is just right in line with the background of the times, "This song is more of a call and cry of the masses. ”
At that time, for the first time, we welcomed the International Multi-Games on our doorstep. The reform and opening up has begun to bear fruit, we are eager to integrate into the world with a new look, and we are opening our doors to welcome guests from all over the world, and the Beijing Asian Games has become a window for the world to understand China.
"The Asian wind rises, the Asian wind shakes the sky..." The high-spirited melody and proud lyrics are still heartwarming, Liu Huan and Wei Wei were 27 years old, just in the year of the singer's fight, they sang the confident style of the Chinese people with a very penetrating singing voice.
Data map: The opening ceremony of the 11th Asian Games was held in Beijing on September 22, 1990, which was the first time that China hosted a comprehensive international sports competition. Photo by China News Agency reporter Shu Yuancheng
33 years later, when the official theme promotion song of the Hangzhou Asian Games "From Now to the Future" was officially launched, everyone found that the first lead singer to appear in the MV was still Wei Wei.
"From singing the sports song "Asian Heroes" for the first time to singing "From Now to the Future" today, I am deeply honored to send blessings to Hangzhou Asia with my peers!"
That year, there was also a well-known song that was also born for the Asian Games.
At that time, Deng Zaijun, the chief televisor of the Asian Games opening ceremony, had been looking for a suitable song to fill the "signal time" of 4 minutes and 30 seconds before the Asian Games opening ceremony broadcast.
Lyricist Chen Zhe remembered the manuscript of "Let the World Be Filled with Love" that he had created and found the inspiration he needed - unity, warmth, and friendship, and the broadcast team found four well-known musicians to compose music, and finally chose the works of composer Meng Weidong.
"Flowers once told me how you walked, the earth knows every corner of your heart, sweet dreams no one will miss, finally ushered in today's happy moment..."
Accompanied by the singing of "The Same Song", the TV picture shows innocent and cute children flying a large balloon on the Great Wall, and then gradually transitioning to the ever-changing appearance of Beijing, the novel and unique architecture of the Asian Games Village, and finally to the main venue of the Asian Games.
This is also the earliest memory of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games.
02
Giant pandas panda panning
"At that time, when I first heard "Asian Heroes" on TV in kindergarten, what I was most looking forward to was a handkerchief printed with panda's hope." In the song comment area of "Asian Heroes", some netizens left a message.
From statues, flower beds, TV commercials, school bags, pencil cases, handkerchiefs, brooches, stickers, and food packaging bags, you can see the panda Panpan Panpan holding a gold medal in his left hand and thumbs up on his right hand.
Because of it, for a long time, some people believed that all panda names are called Panpan, and many newborn children have also received the cute name Panpan.
And Panpan's prototype "Bass" is also a giant panda with a legendary bear.
In 1984, a female giant panda was washed away by the river due to hunger and went out to feed, drifted to Baoxing County and was rescued, named "Bas". As a star panda, it has been on the Spring Festival Gala, visited the United States, and the locals have queued for 5 hours just to see it for 3 minutes, and once set a world record for "the longest living captive giant panda in existence".
In September 2017, Bass died in Fuzhou at the age of 37, equivalent to an elderly man in his 100s.
Data map: On January 18, 2017, 37-year-old "Bass" won the world record for the longest living giant panda in captivity and celebrated his birthday. Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Kegeng
"Hope" means hope for peace, friendship, and usher in outstanding achievements. 20 years later, at the Guangzhou Asian Games, the fashionable "peaceful and happy" sent good wishes to the world, which became a portrayal of everyone enjoying the Asian Games.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the three world cultural heritage sites of Liangzhu Ancient City, West Lake and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal were turned into mascots "Jiangnan Yi", hoping to let the world see the poetic Jiangnan charm and feel the calmness and confidence of China today.
Hangzhou Asian Games mascot "Jiangnan Yi". Source: Official website of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou
03
Sports lottery
Because the Beijing Asian Games were held in September, some people still remember the name of a movie - "My September".
In order to participate in the large-scale martial arts group exercise performance of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Asian Games, primary school student An Jianjun had been practicing hard for a year, but he could not make the final list, and later, with the encouragement of his teacher, he regained his hard training and finally stood at the opening ceremony.
There is a clip in the movie where An Jianjun buys sports lotteries on the street, and finally donates all the 50 yuan he won to the Asian Games.
At the end of the 80s of last century, the preparation of the Asian Games faced considerable financial pressure, and the Beijing Asian Organizing Committee issued a proposal to the society, raised funds for hosting the Games, and issued sports prizes, etc., creating many firsts.
In order to welcome the Beijing Asian Games, Fok Yingdong, a well-known industrialist in Hong Kong, took the initiative to donate 100 million Hong Kong dollars to build the Yingdong Swimming Pool in Beijing Asian Games Village, and the Guangcai Stadium in Muxiyuan was built by 20 million self-employed people across the country with a donation of 20.5 million yuan... At that time, there were also people from all walks of life participating in voluntary labor, and everyone was participating in the event in their own way.
"Everyone is a host!" "The Asian Games strive for honor for the country, and I add glory to the Asian Games!" At that time, "donating money for the Asian Games" was a buzzword, and donating pocket money and buying lottery tickets after school became a common memory for a generation.
Infographic: Children in Beijing promote the Asian Games on the streets. Photo by China News Agency reporter Ren Chenming
In 1987, Yan Haixia, a primary school student in Jianhu County, Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, saw the proposal to donate to the Asian Games in the newspaper, so she donated the 1 yuan 6 cents she just got to become the "first person to donate to the Beijing Asian Games".
Years later, Yan Haixia, who is already an elementary school teacher, recalled: "This is not my business alone, but the choice of that generation. According to statistics, from 1987 to 1990, the fundraising department of the Beijing Asian Organizing Committee received a total of 270 million yuan in donations.
04
tinder
That year, some people still remember a beautiful "torch girl". On August 7, 1990, at the foot of Tanggula Mountain in Nianqing, Tibet, a 14-year-old Tibetan girl, Dawa Yangzong, lit a fuse stick and handed the torch to Li Ning, the prince of gymnastics.
This Asian Games light from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau finally converged in Beijing after a month of transmission.
The picture shows the Tibetan girl Dawa Yangzong collecting the flame of the 11th Asian Games.
On September 22, 1990, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Asian Games opened at the Workers' Stadium, where sports delegations from 37 Asian countries and regions gathered, and the cauldron was finally lit by Xu Haifeng, China's first Olympic champion, Gao Min, Olympic gold medalist in diving, and Zhang Rongfang, the women's ranking player.
In this battlefield on the doorstep, women's weightlifter Xing Fen won the first gold medal, swimmer Shen Jianqiang broke a number of records, winning 5 gold medals in one fell swoop, and 17-year-old Deng Yaping won 3 golds and 1 silver in her debut, and the Chinese team only took 6 days to achieve a breakthrough in the number of gold medals.
In the end, the Chinese delegation achieved brilliant results of 183 gold medals, 107 silver medals and 51 bronze medals, occupying the top spot in the gold medal list and medal table without suspense.
Then we started making history along the way.
At the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, the Chinese sports delegation won a total of 199 gold medals, 119 silver medals and 98 bronze medals, continuing to set a new record, among which China's Shen Hong/Liang Yujie won the sports dance tango individual final championship, winning the 1,000th gold medal of the Chinese Legion in the Asian Games.
Data map: On the evening of November 12, 2010, the Guangzhou Asian Games opened. Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita
The 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games is the largest, most eventful and most extensive Asian Games in history, bringing together more than 12,000 athletes from 45 Asian countries and regions, with a total of 481 gold medals expected over 15 competition days.
From Beijing, Guangzhou to Hangzhou, the memory of the Asian Games spans 33 years. It has witnessed the take-off of China's sports industry and recorded the firm pace of China's opening up and progress.
The streets of Hangzhou are full of Asian Games elements, and the picture shows people taking photos in front of the Asian Games emblem.
Those historic moments and small fragments inside and outside the arena have grown together into the "memory rings" of a generation.
From "Asian Heroes" to "Together with Love", now at the Hangzhou Asian Games, China welcomes visitors from all over the world with a more calm and open look.
The 1990 tinder continues into 2023, and it will continue to burn generations of sports dreams.
Author: reporter Ren Siyu
Source: China News Network