At 9:30 a.m., in the ice skating rink in Binghewan, Tianhe Grandview Plaza, Guangzhou, Xiao Feiyang, a 17-year-old girl, was waving a hockey stick and practicing hitting and running under the guidance of two coaches.
I saw her speeding across the ice like lightning, and her sassy and heroic appearance attracted many passers-by to watch.
With the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Guangzhou has also set off an "ice and snow fever": the number of visitors to the Ice River Ice Skating Rink has increased by 30% compared with previous years, and the number of single-day visitors to Guangzhou Sunac Ice and Snow World has reached 6,000; With 30 players at the same time, it is difficult to take a day off a week.
Guangzhou's ice and snow sports equipment companies also benefited from the "ice and snow economy". The sales of ski boots and ski suits produced by some companies tripled, and the ski helmets in some stores were even sold out.
Industry insiders told reporters that even after the Winter Olympics, the "Winter Olympics bonus" will continue throughout the year, and the "ice and snow sports fever" will continue after the Winter Olympics.
Text and photos / All media reporter Xiao Huanhuan of Guangzhou Daily
17 year old girl:
Hope to be an ice hockey player in the future
In the past winter vacation, Xiao Feiyang did not rest and had been training in Glacier Bay.
At the age of 17, she is about to take the college entrance examination in June this year, and her sports specialty is ice hockey.
Xiao Feiyang told reporters that she hopes to be admitted to a sports academy and become an ice hockey player after graduation.
The Winter Olympics will further ignite her passion for ice hockey.
Xiao Feiyang started learning ice hockey 3 years ago, and now he finds the sport more and more interesting, taking ice hockey as his specialty.
However, the process of practicing ice hockey is very difficult. Ice hockey not only requires players to have a solid technical foundation, but also requires teamwork. It is also prone to injury in high-speed sports.
It is common for her to run into the guardrail of the ice rink or fall directly on the ice during training. Even if she is wearing protective gear, she often falls with bruises and bruises all over her body.
And the cost of practicing ice hockey is not small.
Xiao Feiyang's equipment alone costs tens of thousands of yuan, and hiring a coach for training is the biggest expense. A professional ice hockey coach costs 300 yuan per hour.
Under normal circumstances, she has to train twice a week, and intensive training in winter and summer vacations, which costs about 100,000 yuan a year, but Xiao Feiyang's parents are very supportive of her.
Although the training was very intensive and hard, Xiao Feiyang enjoyed the process.
"I hope that the younger generation like me can inject vitality into the ice and snow sports in Guangzhou."
Seeing that his peers have already won glory for the country in the Winter Olympics, Xiao Feiyang was very excited.
"I believe that there will be more and more teenagers like me who like ice and snow sports and work hard in the direction of professional athletes."
Parents' voice:
Children feel "valued" when they are happy to learn
"These days, children have to skate in the community for at least two hours every day after school, and even wear roller skates at home." Le Qi, a 10-year-old student in the fourth grade of elementary school, watched a figure skating competition during the Spring Festival. Later, Le Qi told her mother that she wanted to learn figure skating.
"The clothes of the players are very beautiful. They dance on the ice like butterflies flying around." Le Qi told reporters that she has been learning roller skating for two years, and has participated in the roller skating youth championship organized by training institutions before ( children's group).
Her daughter was clamoring to learn figure skating, and Le Qi's mother decided to let her sign up for a try.
She learned from the training institution that because of the small class system, the cost of figure skating is not low. On average, it costs 300 yuan per hour, and it costs 30,000 yuan for a year of school hours.
Because the child's enthusiasm is very high, Le Qi's mother decided to sign up the child.
Now Le Qi has been learning figure skating for a week.
Every time she goes to class, she puts on a beautiful figure skating dress and dances on the ice, which becomes her happiest time.
"Learning figure skating can cultivate her temperament and exercise her concentration. You can see that she is so happy every time she goes to class, even if she spends 30,000 yuan, it is worth it," said Le Qi's mother.
"Ski Fever":
During the Spring Festival, the people's enthusiasm for "playing in the snow" reached 6,000 in a single day
Although February 14 is not a weekend, Guangzhou Sunac Snow World (hereinafter referred to as "Snow World") is still lively. Many ice and snow lovers ski here, and children ride bicycles on the ice.
Since the Spring Festival, the number of tourists here has been at a high level, with more than 5,000 people receiving almost every day.
"Driven by the Beijing Winter Olympics, the enthusiasm of Guangzhou citizens for ice and snow sports has never been higher." Speaking of the impact of the Winter Olympics on Guangzhou's ice and snow sports, Gurry, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City, couldn't hide his excitement.
Thanks to the Spring Festival and the Winter Olympics, the number of tourists to Snow World has increased significantly this year. During the peak period of the Spring Festival, a single-day passenger flow reached 6,000, and the cumulative total number of tourists has exceeded 2 million.
Snow World is the largest indoor ski resort in South China and the first venue in Guangzhou and even Guangdong that can carry out snow sports.
Gurry introduced to reporters that the warming of ice and snow sports is inseparable from the holding of various ice and snow events.
Snow World started to hold a series of popular ice and snow events centered on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Skiing Elite Challenge in 2020. The specifications of the events have been gradually improved. The second event will be upgraded in July 2021. Guidance, sponsored by Guangdong Ice and Snow Sports Association and Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City, to create a popular ice and snow event that "skies through the four seasons". At present, this event has become the first brand of snow events in the south.
Gurry said that in addition to satisfying local citizens' enthusiasm for "playing with snow", Snow World will also take popularizing ice and snow sports as an important mission and actively promote ice and snow sports into the campus.
Since the opening ceremony of ice and snow sports entering the campus and school team formation in Huadu District, Guangzhou in November 2021, about 30 ski teams have been established in Guangzhou, with about 12 people in each team.
This year, the company will continue to support schools in Guangdong Province to develop skiing, build youth ski competitive school teams, and provide free coaching, training courses, training venues and sports equipment for school teams, and will host youth ski competitive school teams in the future. intercollegiate league.
At the same time, considering the large number of universities in Guangzhou, it will also promote the establishment of ice and snow sports teams in Guangzhou universities and organize leagues to contribute to the cultivation of ice and snow sports talents in Guangdong.
"Ice Sports Fever":
Ice hockey, figure skating, curling are all "hot" within 3 years or the Guangzhou youth curling team will be established
"The Winter Olympics have popularized ice and snow sports, especially the media coverage, which has greatly increased the popularity of ice and snow sports. Many children may not know what ice hockey and big jumping are before, but they have seen the games broadcast on TV. They will find it very fun." Li Jin, vice president of Guangzhou Binghewan Skating Club, also serves as the deputy secretary general of the Guangdong Ice and Snow Sports Association and the vice president of the Guangzhou Ice and Snow Sports Association.
As one of the first "pioneers" to explore ice sports in Guangzhou, Li Jin clearly felt the "ice and snow fever" in Guangzhou brought by the Winter Olympics.
In addition to ice hockey, more and more teenagers are signing up for figure skating and curling training. He feels that one ice rink is not enough.
Li Jin introduced that after the opening of the Winter Olympics, the number of people who came to experience ice sports in Glacier Bay increased significantly, with an average of 800 to 1,200 people on ice every day, an increase of 30% over previous years.
"It can be said that Guangzhou teenagers' enthusiasm for ice and snow sports has been fully activated."
Li Jin said that although many people in Guangzhou have never seen snow, their enthusiasm for ice and snow sports has always been very high.
In 2005, Glacier Bay Skating Club was established in Grandview Plaza.
Li Jin has also been dealing with the ice and snow industry in Guangzhou since then.
"We have coaches from the former national team here, and we often invite coaches from ice and snow powers to teach on the spot."
In recent years, ice hockey, curling, figure skating and other ice and snow sports have gradually become more popular among Guangzhou youth students. Taking ice hockey as an example, the number of people participating in the Guangdong Youth Ice Hockey Championships has reached 400 every year.
Li Jin said that the popularity of ice and snow sports in Guangzhou is also related to the decline in the overall cost of ice and snow sports today.
With the rise of ice and snow sports, there are more manufacturers engaged in the production of ice and snow equipment, and the quality has also improved. Many of the equipment of the students can be made in China, and the cost has dropped suddenly; at the same time, the comprehensive construction cost of the ice rink has also dropped. , as long as it is properly managed and operated, it is possible to maintain a balance and make a profit in a big city like Guangzhou.
During the Winter Olympics, curling attracted a lot of attention.
"Many people called and asked me if I could learn curling." Li Jin introduced that now there are professional curling coaches in Binghewan, and many enthusiasts have come to the venue to experience it.
His goal is to build Guangzhou's youth curling team in the next three years.
"Ice and Snow Training Fever":
Ice hockey coaches 'can't get busy'
Driven by the Winter Olympics, coaches engaged in ice and snow sports have become more in short supply.
Li Xanduo is a former national ice hockey team player and coach, and the head coach of the Glacier Bay Sharks hockey team.
He has been engaged in ice and snow sports training since 1971, and participated in the National Junior Ice Hockey Tournament and won the championship; he has served as the coach of the Qiqihar Ice Hockey Team since 1986, and once led the team to participate in the National Ice Hockey Championship and won the championship.
Now in Binghewan, Li Xanduo has to bring 30 students, and Xiao Feiyang is one of them.
Recently, many parents of students have found Li Xanduo and want their children to learn ice hockey with him.
From Monday to weekend, his time is full.
"Now the enthusiasm of Guangzhou youths to participate in ice and snow sports is unprecedented, and I am almost too busy."
According to Li Xanduo, ice hockey is a sport that tests mental and physical strength. The threshold is very high. You need to be able to skate, cooperate with hands and feet, and you need to control the ice hockey with a club. There are many auxiliary facilities, and team cooperation is required.
There will be fierce confrontation in the competition. This sport can not only exercise the child's concentration, but also exercise the coordination ability of the hands and feet, and also strengthen the will of the child.
In Li Xianduo's view, the challenge facing Guangzhou ice sports now is that the number of ice rinks is not enough.
Now, in addition to site selection, the ice rink needs to be maintained and operated, and the cost is not small.
But Li Xanduo has clearly felt that the ice sports are heating up.
As the coach of 30 team members, because the students have different levels, he has to make training plans according to the level of the students, and he has to take the students for more than 10 hours every day.
"Ice hockey has been included in the Provincial Games, which is a good start. We are very excited as coaches. And the 2025 National Games will be co-hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and ice hockey is also a competition event, which will also drive this sport to become more popular. The warming of Guangdong.”
In last year's Guangdong Youth Ice Hockey Championship, the Guangzhou women's ice hockey team with Binghewan players won the championship in both the women's A and B teams, and the men's team won the runner-up.
Li Xianduo said that his biggest goal now is to build a professional Guangzhou ice hockey team.
"Guangzhou is fully equipped with such strength."
Like Li Xanduo, there are also some training institutions who feel that the ice and snow sports are heating up in Yangcheng.
Mr. Chen, head of a training institution in Guangzhou, told reporters that with the holding of the Winter Olympics and the "double reduction", students have more spare time after class, and ice and snow sports are heating up.
Because ice and snow sports are highly professional, the training price in this area is not low.
He expects that with the heating up of ice and snow sports, there is still room for the price of ice and snow sports training in small classes to rise.
"Ice and Snow Economy Fever":
Some companies have tripled their sales and some stores are out of stock for ski helmets
For the development of China's ice and snow industry, the Beijing Winter Olympics is like a "catalyst", and some companies in Guangzhou that produce ice and snow sports equipment have felt new opportunities.
The person in charge of a company that produces ski boots and ski suits in Huadu District told reporters that since the end of last year, the sales of ski boots and ski suits produced by the company have increased by more than three times compared with the same period of previous years, of which the price is about 500 yuan. 's ski boots are the most popular.
"In the past, we mainly dealt with foreign trade orders, but because of the Winter Olympics, the enthusiasm of domestic people to buy ice and snow products is also very high. It is estimated that more than half of the orders this year will be purchased by domestic consumers."
Previously, the "Ice and Snow Equipment Industry Development Action Plan (2019~2022)" jointly issued by the State General Administration of Sports, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other nine departments proposed that by 2022, the annual sales revenue of my country's ice and snow equipment industry will exceed 20 billion yuan , with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%.
Guangzhou has a sound advanced manufacturing foundation. With the effect of the Winter Olympics, Guangzhou's ice and snow equipment manufacturing industry is expected to usher in rapid development throughout this year.
Xie Qiang, general manager of Guangzhou Tuosen Sports Goods Co., Ltd. also introduced that benefiting from the Winter Olympics, the sales of the company's products have become more popular, especially the domestic market has grown significantly. Last year, the sales of its ski goggles in China increased by 10%. .
In addition, the offline sales of ice and snow products are also rising.
The reporter learned from a large sports equipment store that the sales of ski equipment from January to February this year more than doubled compared with the same period last year. Customers purchased products including skis, ski poles, ski helmets, ski gloves, ski goggles, ski protection tools, etc.
In particular, the sales of ski helmets and ski goggles have grown the most, and these two equipments have even been sold out for a while.
Zhu Jie, the head of the store, told reporters that this year is the year of the Winter Olympics, and it is expected that the sales of ice and snow equipment will be relatively prosperous throughout the year.
"Winter Olympic bonus" will continue
Optimistic about the development of Guangzhou's "post-Winter Olympics era"
When the Winter Olympics are over, will everyone's enthusiasm for ice and snow still be the same as before?
In Gurry's view, the answer is yes.
He is very optimistic about the development of Guangzhou's ice and snow industry after the Winter Olympics.
He said that although the Winter Olympics will soon pass, the spillover effects and event dividends will continue.
"The 2015 Olympic bid was successful. The General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China shouted the slogan of '300 million people participating in ice and snow sports' and issued a series of relevant industrial planning measures. Therefore, Guangzhou's 'ice and snow fever' will continue."
In Gurry's view, on the supply side of ice and snow sports, in addition to Snow World, more ski resorts will emerge in Guangdong next.
There is still a lot of room for development in the training of ice and snow talents and the training industry, and the upstream and downstream industrial chains of the ice and snow industry such as ski equipment and equipment will usher in leapfrog development.
Taking ski instructors as an example, as the enthusiasm of Guangzhou citizens for ice and snow sports continues to increase, the demand for ski instructors is also increasing.
To this end, Snow World has dispatched a large number of professional ski instructors to meet the snow sports needs of citizens.
At present, Snow World has more than 130 professional ski instructors, who have conducted ski training for a total of 230,000 person-times; in terms of mass skiing teaching, corresponding teaching systems have been set up for different types of customer groups such as children, adults and teams; in terms of professional skiing teaching, Snow World will serve as a certification base for social ski instructors in Guangdong Province and provide professional qualification certification services.
These are all prepared for the rapid development of Guangzhou's ice and snow industry in the "post-Winter Olympics era".
Gurry said that Guangzhou has always been an important source city for ice and snow tourism in my country, and the ice and snow sports market in Guangzhou still has a broad space for development.
"The rapid development of Guangzhou's ice and snow economy requires the support of the competent authorities, such as the continuous promotion of ice and snow into the campus; it also requires the continuous attention of the whole society, and enterprises also need to increase their efforts to boost it."
Li Jin is also very optimistic about the ice sports market in Guangzhou in the "post-Winter Olympics era".
Up to now, Binghewan has established a talent training plan with many ice and snow characteristic schools in Guangzhou under the promotion of the Guangzhou Municipal and District Education Bureau, and plans to promote ice sports to the campus by the end of 2022; Binghewan also cooperates with Excellent Education Carry out ice and snow sports activities on campus, and at the same time will gradually promote the establishment of championships at all levels, which will be connected with the World Curling Youth Points Competition.
In fact, as early as 2019, Li Jin planned to build a curling hall in Guangzhou, but it was not realized due to high investment. Today, Li Jin is still promoting the construction of the Guangzhou curling hall.
"It is not necessarily our investment, but we are definitely an important participant because we have been in close contact with the organizers of the World Curling Tour." He said that in the next three years, Guangzhou's ice sports market will reach about 200 million yuan scale.
"The Winter Olympics will set up a system for ice and snow sports, and the upstream and downstream industry chains will be opened up. Now we just have to wait for the sailing. Just like curling has already been shot, we are moving forward at a stable speed, and we will take ice at the right time. Just change the speed and direction of the pot brush.”