When you say ‘ice skating’, the words joy, playful, and friendship come to mind for most people. But I want to tell a different story – because skating can be much more than that.
For me, figure skating is neither leisure nor entertainment. I take it seriously. I began skating when I was four, and becoming a professional figure skating ‘Ice Princess’ has always been my biggest dream.
When I was in kindergarten and elementary school, parents believed skating was a good way for me to stay fit and healthy and they drove me to weekly figure skating classes at the mall. The more I learned, the more time I needed to spend on the ice, but the ice rink was far away from my home and my parents had little time to drive me back and forth. When I went to secondary school, my parents believed that I shouldn’t be spending so much time on skating. Instead, they thought I should only focus on my studies.
I explained to them that skating was not a hobby, but also helped me to forget my troubles. But they thought this was ridiculous, and I was just making excuses. My mom thought figure skating was my biggest distraction and forced me to stop. But I persisted in secret, spending four hours a day commuting between school, the ice rink, and home. Sometimes I got hurt and felt tired, but I’d think of the little girl who wanted to be an Ice Princess and remember what it is like to go all out to pursue my dream. I did not let my mother know that I was skating until I had taught myself several jumps on my own, without a coach. After I mastered the sit spin, camel spin, axel, and double jumps, I made a short movie of myself and showed it to my mom. I’ll never forget how impressed she was. She then started to realize that we have different mindsets and that I had not been making excuses – skating really is part of my life.
After that, my parents agreed to let me join one of the best figure skating clubs in China to pursue my dreams, where I still train today. But after taking my first class there, I realized a problem: I was much older than other skaters but my level was much lower than theirs. I began to train with professional figure skaters, but sometimes it hurt my self-confidence as those who were a few years younger than me simply ignored or laughed at me.
In the beginning, I frequently hear them talking in the dressing room, saying things like “Look at her! She is so much older than us, but she cannot even do those such simple moves!”; “She is not cut out for this!”; “She is way too bad at skating!”. When I skated in group training, I was much slower than others, and even the teacher ignored me. The gap between us felt insurmountable. Worst of all, figure skating went from being something I was proud of, to something I didn’t even want to tell others I could do.
Then one day, I saw a video on YouTube about an old lady in her 90s who still loves skating and even won an award. It changed my life. I was so impressed by her story and realized that it’s never too late to skate and it is never wrong to pursue one’s dream.
I began to train harder and I found out that there are many kids like me, who want to learn figure skating but are not recognized by others, or are afraid of starting too late. For these reasons, they have lost sight of the beauty and essence of skating.
After going through this experience, I have gained a deeper understanding of myself. Of course, I know that I am far from reaching my goal of being a professional Ice Princess, but skating is a true passion of mine, and I will never stop loving it. Just like I strive to become a better skater, I hope more girls will strive to fulfill their dreams, and face the world more confidently, stronger, and more optimistically.
Hit the Ice in Beijing at These Indoor Rinks
Le Cool Ice Rink 国贸滑冰场
B2/F, China World Shopping Mall, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District.
朝阳区建国门外大街1号国贸商城B2楼
(6505 5776, lecool@cwtc.com) www.lecoolicerink.com
All Star Ice Rink 全明星滑冰俱乐部
1/F, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, 6 Chaoyang Gongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District.
朝阳区朝阳公园路6号蓝色港湾国际商区首层
(5905 6328)
Champion Skating Rink 冠军滑冰场
B2/F, Jinyuan Shopping Mall, Yuanda Lu, Haidian District.
海淀区远大路金源购物中心地下2层
(8887 4899)
Century Star Club (Capital Indoor Stadium Ice Rink) 世纪星滑冰俱乐部
B/F, Capital Gymnasium, 54 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian District.
海淀区中关村南大街54号首都体育馆
(6834 6346) www.centurystar.com.cn
This article appeared in the beijingkids 2020 August issue