Ice hockey wins popularity in China

Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, the famous "Parched City", has seen some sweaty days recently, but in the ice stadium, many kids are enjoying some wonderful ice hockey.

An ice hockey match, the 2018 Chongqing Children's Sunshine Sports Ice Hockey Challenge, was held in Chongqing this week. More than a hundred players aged 6-10 participated in this game.

They were from four ice hockey clubs in southwestern Chinese cities, namely Chongqing Prince, Chongqing Chiyan, Chengdu Flame and Chengdu Sirius.

One of the hockey dads focused all his attention on the game when his 7-year-old son was skating and competing on the ice.

Ice hockey is not a traditional strength in Chinese sports and does not yet have wide popularity across the country.

However, with the rapid development of society and considerable improvement of the living standards, many Chinese parents are seeking different kinds of extracurricular activities for their children and ice hockey becomes one of their choices.

As the game went on, 8-year-old Han Han stood in the waiting area, watching the game from the sidelines.

She started playing ice hockey at the Chongqing Prince Ice Hockey Club three years ago, and now she is a skilled player.

Liu Hongxun, a former Chinese national ice hockey team leader, decided to become an ice hockey coach in 2007 and established the very first ice hockey club in Chongqing in 2014.

He pointed out that western professional leagues like the English Premier League and the NBA flocked to this emerging market one after another trying to win the hearts of 1.3 billion potential customers with growing purchasing power.

It's also no surprise that both NHL and the KHL, the two major ice hockey leagues, are also now rushing to follow suit, trying to create their own success story in China.

Liu admits that huge challenges still exist. There is not a lot of awareness and lack of grassroots foundation for the ice hockey games. China is not a winter sport power except in a few provinces in the northeast.

"In the past, ice hockey was mostly popular in northeast China. Big cities in the three provinces in the Northeast might also have their own ice hockey team," Liu said.

However, Liu says he sees a bright future for ice hockey in China, as more Chinese cities start to see young kids involved in the sport.

"In recent years, it gradually shifted towards the southern areas," Liu says.

But it takes time, investment, and a long-term systemic strategy to introduce this game to the Chinese market; there is no short cut and no quick returns, Liu said.