Skating Fever in the Early Days of New China

by Guo Lei

Back in the 1950s， skating was easily the hottest winter sport in Beijing.

When the Beijing Municipal Working Committee of the Chinese New Democracy Youth League organized its New Year celebration on January 2， 1950， ice sports at Beihai Park was a central activity. The eclectic list of events included speed skating， color flag relay， and the highly popular “dragon parade.”In a dragon parade， dozens of people link hands while snaking around the ice rink to create a spectacular scene.

Back then， there were a lot of public ice rinks including those in Beihai Park， Shichahai Lake，

Taoranting Park， and the Summer Palace. Institutions with ponds， especially schools， would draw on natural conditions to build ice rinks， while those without

such endowment would enclose a vacant lot where they could bring water to build makeshift ice rinks.

Skating enthusiasts included not only children and students， but also adults. However， skates were a luxury. Except for a few who could afford them， most would rent a pair or use homemade skates. Walking around toting a pair of skates over one’s shoulder would definitely draw envious eyes.

Of the many older Beijingers I have interviewed， most can recall skating in their youth. “First love is like fine wine served cup after cup，” wrote Wang Meng in his memoir Recollections of the Past.“With it， everything else becomes so intoxicating.”

Apparently， the Shichahai ice rink was one of those cups of fine wine for him. “In the winter of 1952， I spent virtually every Saturday night skating at Shichahai，” he wrote. “The ice rink was poorly furnished， but just to my taste： First， tasty chilled hawthorn juice was offered there. The warm reddish color was nothing short of a miracle in the cold winter. Second， the service staff would sharpen your skates for free， and the sparkling electric sharpener seemed so fascinating. Third was the most important reason： Soviet songs boomed on the loudspeakers. The most touching was ‘Who Knows Him’ performed by the Pyatnitsky Choir. The innocent， richly blazing tone of the folk song rendered by Russian harmonies invariably moved me to tears.”

Winter skating was popular for many reasons. First， the fresh feeling after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 made the people happy and carefree. Second， vigorous promotion was made by the Communist Youth League， the National Sports Commission， and other agencies. Third was influence from the Soviet Union. Skating was already quite popular in the Soviet Union， where many of the world’s best skaters lived.

In January 1954， the People’s Sports Publishing House was established. The same year， this state-level sports publishing institution published posters to promote skating， including Embracing Winter on Skates and Skating as a Good Winter Exercise.