People of Changning know that there is a Huxi Stadium in Changning District, which is a place where you can exercise and play large-scale sports competitions. The author was born in Caojiadu, and after being discharged from the army, he worked at the Shanghai No. 1 Textile Machinery Factory (formerly known as the state-owned No. 1 Machine) at the intersection of Zhongshan West Road and Changning Road, which is only a stone's throw away from Huxi Stadium.
Old view of Huxi Stadium
Huxi Stadium was built in 1951, which was not easy at the time. To the east of its location is the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway and Kaixuan Road, and there are Sanjing Temple and a large number of shantytowns in between; to the south is Wuyi Road; The west side is close to Zhongshan West Road; To the north is Changning Road. The main facilities of the stadium are the stadium and the track and field, the largest area is a large north-south, 11-a-side football field, and the east and west sides are wooden stands that can accommodate thousands of people; In the northwest corner, there is also a small 7-a-side football field and a track and field field; A two-storey building with red brick walls next to the big football stadium and standing parallel to it, simple and straightforward, the building has both office and management functions, which is probably all the belongings of Huxi Stadium.
In my memory, in the first few years of the 70s of the 20th century, the gate of Huxi Stadium was on the side of Wuyi Road, and the wooden sign of Huxi Stadium was hung at the door, because there was a lighted court for playing basketball on the opposite side of Wuyi Road, which was convenient for the field leaders to manage. It is said that there is also a gate on Zhongshan West Road, but except for a large number of people entering and exiting, it is rarely opened, so few people pay attention to it.
There was such an experience that I will never forget. One day in July 1973, I received a notice from the Changning District Sports Committee that the chess competition in Changning District had ended, and that the award ceremony would be held at 6:30 p.m. on July 23 (Monday) at the lighted basketball court of Huxi Stadium. In the evening, the cool breeze swept away the heat of the day, and I took the record under the bright lights of the lighted stadium and successfully completed the game task. It must be known that there was no air conditioning at that time, and it was really difficult to find a venue for such a large-scale award performance event in the hot summer, and it was really a blessing for fans and chess fans to have an open-air lighted stadium. In retrospect, this was the first time I walked into the newly built lighted basketball court. Why do I remember it so clearly? Because I keep that notice in my collection, keep it as a souvenir.
I'm not afraid to be embarrassed, I was in my early thirties and learned to ride a bicycle at Huxi Stadium. I finally got a bicycle purchase ticket, but where can I learn to buy a new car? With that, go to the nearby Huxi Stadium to learn to drive! After work, put the saddle to the lowest position, put on white gauze gloves, and ask an enthusiastic master in the factory who can ride a bicycle to accompany him to an open space on the edge of the small football field in the northwest corner of the stadium. The master taught me to lead: sit upright, keep your waist immobile, keep your center of gravity, and look forward. It's hard for him, because he keeps holding the schoolbag rack behind him and trotting along. Let's take a break, watch people play football, and see an interesting scene: I saw someone accidentally kicking the ball over the wall with a big foot, and the ball flew to the alley next door, saying that it was too late, it was fast, and the athletes were agile, and a two-person ladder had climbed over the wall, poking out his head and shouting: "Which kind uncle, uncle, thank you, please help throw the ball over!" After a while, passers-by passed by, the ball entered over the wall, and the court began to compete again, and the joyful atmosphere was restored. As soon as I understood, it turned out that the "emergency" of kicking the ball over the wall was a common occurrence. When I was still young, I rode home in just over an hour, but for the sake of safety, I rode home from Wanhangdu Road along the back gate of Zhongshan Park, because there were no bus lines on this road, and motor vehicles were rare.
In the late 70s, in order to adapt to the increasing number of major international and domestic sports events, Huxi Stadium was renovated and expanded on a large scale, and the grandstand of the football field was expanded, which can accommodate nearly 10,000 people; The office building has been newly painted; There are 8 standard tracks in the track and field; The surrounding green environment is trimmed and pruned......
I said that the textile machinery factory where I work is a state-owned unit with thousands of employees and a sports tradition, and in addition to organizing a factory-wide sports meeting at the Huxi Stadium, there is also a well-known factory football team in Shanghai. It is said that in the eighties and nineties of the 20th century, the Shanghai "Chen Yi Cup" staff football match was held in Shanghai, and the Huxi Stadium was naturally the venue where the team of our factory often went to practice. Of course, this is also one of the venues for the "Chen Yi Cup" football match. Due to the support of the factory leaders and the love of the workers, whenever there is a ball game in the outer area, the factory will send three trucks, one is the athletes and related staff, one is the cold drinking water, and the other is the cheerleading team, and the formation is quite spectacular. At that time, our football team won the championship and runner-up in the 7-a-side competition.
I remember an interesting incident: I once taught in the factory technical school, and once, the school organized a friendly football match between teachers and students at Huxi Stadium. In order to prevent the football from being kicked out of the wall, we have made a rule that whoever kicks the ball over the wall will not only be responsible for picking up the ball, but also receive a yellow card warning from the referee, accumulate two yellow cards, turn it into a red card, and send off the field. To this end, we also made penalty signs out of yellow and red cardboard; However, due to the lack of exercise, I always feel that the field is so big that I am tired after running a lap, so we don't have rules such as "offside", and these episodes have become a good story......
The stars are changing, and time flies. In my memory, in the era of economic development, Huxi Stadium built a Tesco supermarket. Since 1995, it has been transformed into the Shanghai International Gymnastics Center, which has become the venue for the 8th National Gymnastics and Rhythmic Gymnastics, as well as a regional sports center integrating training, competition, performance and leisure. In addition, the newly built Changning District Maternal and Infant Health Hospital is also within the scope of the original Huxi Stadium.
From the outside, the International Gymnastics Center as a whole is a pure and atmospheric crystal ball shape, early in the morning, like a round of rising sun; At night, it is like a huge night pearl shining brightly, as if it is reflected in the distance with the Oriental Pearl on the other side of the Bund!
I was fortunate enough to have walked into this majestic and modern building many times. The first time was to observe theatrical performances, the third time was to participate in the district competition on behalf of the street choir, and the third time was to be responsible for the refereeing of the chess competition in Changning District. During this time, I had the opportunity to visit the stadium on several floors up and down the building......
However, distant memories continue to ferment in the years, and Huazhang and stories always start from the distant past. We can't forget that the beautiful International Gymnastics Center was born from the Phoenix Nirvana in the old land of Huxi Stadium. Huxi Stadium has immortal feelings for the older generation, and it carries and records how many green years and stories of "Old Changning"!
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Author: Chen Rixu
Editor: Zhang Li
Editor-in-charge: Liao and Wei
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