Ice dancing attracts thousands of Shanghai enthusiasts(2)

Today the 27-year-old is a coach for the Century Star skating club and most of the students he works with are young girls with their eyes set on the glamour of becoming famous professional skaters.

For two years now at the club Yang has been sharing his knowledge of the intricacies of this complicated and demanding sport. "I want my students to continue the dream that I had to give up. Figure skating can have more bitterness than beauty."

Yang said his students had to do warm-up exercises, running, jumping and stretching, before actually getting onto the ice. The youngsters have to complete 30 laps of the rink which leaves many of them exhausted and feeling that they can't do any more. But that's when the real work begins on the ice. If they can't sustain this tough training regime they will never be able to complete a proper competition program in the future, Yang said.

"I teach them to smile even if they have fallen because they will be seen on screens in competitions in the future." Appearance is all-important in this sport.

Yang enjoys the competitions and the atmosphere at big events. "When I got onto the winner's podium there was a special feeling." He is encouraging his young students to get used to the feeling of big competitions and has taken students to compete in the Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge, in Bangkok, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

He is still involved with ice skating though his dream these days is to guide some of his young learners to become stars of the future.

Just for fun

Not everyone skates with stardom in mind. Yan Chenyi is a 26-year-old city accountant who has been ice skating for a year and has developed an obsession with the sport. She comes to the rink five times a week (although she usually spends most of her weekends on ice) and she now has a coach. She is well-known in the club and is set to take the entry-level grade 1 test.

Even though this is the beginner's level she is pleased with her efforts, which have been painful at times. In her practice sessions already she has sustained injuries to her knees, hips and eyes. Last week she sprained an ankle while skating. "It happens in a flash. You can't help yourself because you are moving so quickly," Yan said. She has learned to do proper warm-up exercises, running and skipping, but she believes injuries are unavoidable.

Her parents worry about her getting hurt but they don't stop her skating. Her friends and colleagues don't understand her enthusiasm for this apparently dangerous pastime. "I used to try to explain myself to them but now I don't bother. Skating takes away the stresses from work and makes me concentrate. And I have a lot of new friends on the ice." She admires the youngsters she skates alongside and asks them for help and advice at times.

She said skating was like flying and she loved the freedom and speed she experienced - totally unlike anything she could feel walking or running.

Feng and Yan are two members of the 4,500 skaters who come to the club regularly. There are now six ice rinks in Shanghai.

According to the club, in the past two years more than 16,000 people have signed up for winter sports membership. There are 54 youngsters who are aspiring champions and work with professional coaches. Yue Yuan is the club operations manager and confirmed that most of the aspirants are girls - "boys prefer ice hockey which is a real man's sport."

Cleaning the surface

At the weekends on the rink an ice resurfacer cleans and smooths the ice every two hours, and during the week this happens every five to seven hours. The ice resurfacer is a specially designed vehicle that removes scars and indentations from the ice and sprays water out to provide a new clean surface for the skaters. Yue said it costs the club about 3,500 yuan a day to maintain the ice rink itself and the club would be approaching the government for a grant to help it continue its work.

In the 1980s the General Administration of Sport of China proposed a program to introduce some of China's northern sports including figure skating, ice hockey and short track speed skating, to southern cities. The program ran into problems including a lack of facilities and public interest.

But with Olympic champions and more publicity Shanghai has seen ice skating attract larger crowds and it is also gaining some official support. However, although many clubs encourage and train future national and international champions, they are yet to receive any government financial support.