(W.E. Talk) Big Air Shougang, Would You Like to Visit It?

By China News Service reporter: Cui Bailu

(ECNS)-- With Gu Ailing and Su Yiming realizing their dreams of winning gold medals, the four events of the snowboard and freestyle skiing Big Air competitions of Beijing Winter Olympics have all come to an end, and the Winter Olympics Shougang venue has also successfully completed the task of the events. Despite of the few competitions and niche events, Big Air Shougang unexpectedly "came out of the circle" and became widely known.

The stylish appearance of Big Air Shougang and the wonderful events held here are vivid embodiment of the spirit of Beijing Winter Olympics.

Environmental protection comes first, which is the basis of the construction of Big Air Shougang.

Ecological protection and sustainable development are the common aspirations of people all over the world. With the increasingly prominent global ecological and environmental problems, the environmental pollution and energy consumption that may be brought about by Olympic Games have attracted much attention. The concept of green Olympics came into being.

Big Air Shougang is constructed on the site of a former steel mill, the century-old Shougang Industrial Park, whose two connections with the Olympic Games both derived from the concept of Green Olympic Games. In order to support the bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Shougang, whose main business is steelmaking, has returned Beijing with clear water and blue sky through the overall relocation. On the eve of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, the waste raw material silo became the office area for the Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, the industrial plant became the training base for the events of short track speed skating, figure skating, curling and ice hockey, and the stadium became the world’s first Big Air permanently reserved for use.

The promises of sustainability and thrift are fulfilled here. The world can see China’s unremitting efforts for the Green Olympics as well as a beautiful China with harmonious development of ecological environment, economy and society.

Being inclusive and symbiotic, Big Air Shougang endows the Beijing Winter Olympics with a rich cultural core. Differing from traditional Big Air using natural mountains as the main landscape, Beijing has found a unique way to create the first venue in the history of Winter Olympics that is directly combined with the reuse of industrial heritage. The overall design and construction integrates the efforts of top teams from China, Italy, Belgium, Germany and other countries, in which Chinese traditional culture, industrial culture and Olympic culture are organically integrated.

The design concept of the platform is derived from the traditional flying Apsaras in Dunhuang frescoes in China, and also resembles the crystal shoes of Cinderella in the western fairy tale. That’s why it is affectionately called "Snow flying Apsaras" and "Crystal Shoes" by Chinese and foreign netizens. The visual effects of cyberpunk and industrial oasis bring people unprecedented cultural freshness.

The Olympic Games is a grand event in the world, with tolerance and unity being the eternal themes. The birth of Big Air Shougang is the cultural expression of this theme. The world’s understanding and pursuit of beauty are interlinked. The interchange of wisdom and integration of culture have created this elegant and agile achievement of human civilization.

Being people-oriented, Big Air Shougang brings warmth to the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Big Air attaches great importance to the experience of athletes and spectators. Due to the high difficulty and high risk of the sports, a safe and stable playing field is very important for athletes. With a safe, spacious and comfortable structure as well as smooth and delicate snow, Big Air Shougang is conducive to athletes to show difficult skills and give full play to their best level. The design of the spectator platform allows the audience to experience the fun of the competition from a close distance, making Big Air competitions, a niche event that only more than 400 athletes participate in, become an ice and snow sport enjoyed by the masses.

After the Winter Olympics, Big Air Shougang will be permanently reserved and open to the public. It would become a public space integrating event training, commercial trade, culture and art, leisure and entertainment aimed at contributing to the popularization of ice and snow sports in the world and providing a good demonstration for the transformation and development of cities in other countries.

The core of the Olympics is people. Respect and care for people make the Beijing Winter Olympics full of humanity, and make ice and snow sports “fly into the homes of ordinary people”.

The appearance of the Big Air Shougang is a practice of the green development, mutual learning of civilizations and people-oriented concepts of the Beijing Winter Olympics, bearing the epitome of the times and spirit of China’s development. Come here, people can see the history, enjoy the present, and look forward to a better future.