FROZEN rivers in Beijing are favourite spots for adult and children every winter.
They skate, play ice hockey, stroll along the slippery surface and build snowmen when it is snowing.
This year the snowman has been replaced by Bing Dwen Dwen – the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics mascot.
The excitement to see Beijing, the only city in the world to host the Summer and Winter Olympics (which ended yesterday), has driven more people to hit the frozen rivers.
The Shichahai Ice Rink, the most popular venue for activities, saw a huge crowd of people doing speed skating and figure skating on the frozen water while the amateurs and children riding ice bikes, dragon boats and having fun on the ice slide.
Located behind the Forbidden City, the rink usually opens in late December or early January and closes around mid-February, depending on the thickness of the ice.
Its manager Xu Jian said the ice must at least be 15cm thick for the people to use.
He added the fun pitch received about 150,000 people this year, a surge of 30,000 compared to last year.
One of the regular customers is skating enthusiast Wang Yusheng, 76, who has been enjoying the activity since he was 18.
He travelled an hour and a half from his home to the rink daily.
“Skating is fun. I come every day once the rink opens each year but I can only skate for an hour due to my age,” he said.
Consisting of three connecting lakes, Shichahai is known as the royal’s back garden where the royal families resided during the ancient times.
(Only the emperor, his wife and concubines, as well as non-married children could live in the palace.)
Today, it has turned into a tourist attraction where visitors can indulge in the traditional Beijing snacks and cuisine, while enjoying the beautiful scenery or relaxing in the bars around the lake.
As international athletes were competing at the arenas, the public created their own mini Winter Olympics outside the loop and shared their fun on social media platforms.
Curling seems to be the most popular as it is perhaps the easiest to play.
Some of them played with woks and mops, some turned empty cans into toys while others made full use of their kettles.
A resident from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region created his own curling stone by filling a face basin with freezing water and used a cucumber as the handle.
One resident from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region carved a rectangular block of ice into the shape of a curling stone with an ice shovel.
He then drilled a hole with an electric drill and inserted a red tube as a handle.
“I want to experience it myself and cheer for Beijing 2022.
“I hope that more residents who love ice and snow sports can join in the games,” the Global Times reported.
In a video, a group of firemen is seen competing in curling at an outdoor basketball court, using ice blocks and glass wipers.
Those living in areas that don’t get snow didn’t want to miss the fun too and created their own winter games by modifying the equipment and tools.
Most of them enjoyed the “summer curling” game by adding rollers on “plastic stones” or tyres.
With the renewed enthusiasm among the public in sports following the hosting of the Winter Olympics, the National Development and Reform Commission – China’s top economic planner – said it would be spending 2.1bil yuan (RM1.4bil) to build 185 sports venues.
The investment will focus on outdoor sports facilities such as hiking and cycling, as well as various ice and snow activities.
The General Administration of Sport has also chipped in its efforts by allocating nearly 4.7bil yuan (RM3bil) on refurbishing over 1,000 facilities.
Free or subsidised training courses would also be provided to the public to further encourage their participation in sports.
During the Olympics, China is adopting a strict “closed-loop” system for the games, in which athletes, judges, media practitioners, volunteers and all those involved were confined in the loop to prevent contact with the public to contain spread of Covid-19.
Their movement is restricted to the airports, the Olympics village, hotels and the competition venues on official transports.
Nucleic acid tests were conducted on them daily.
After the games, those residing in China are required to be quarantined for 21 days before they can go home.
The spectators – on invitation only – entered and exited the game venues via a special passage.
They must undergo two nucleic acid tests before the event (within 48 hours and 24 hours) and another two after the games (within 72 hours and on the seventh day).
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