Elderly man builds ice rink on his roof after being inspired by Beijing Olympics to rekindle passion
The 66-year-old spent almost six months building the DIY ice rink
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Your support makes all the difference.An elderly Chinese man has built an ice rink on his roof to rekindle his passion for winter sports after being inspired by the Beijing Olympics.
Zhang Baoqi, 66, a resident of the coastal city Tianjin in northern China went to new lengths to reignite his childhood love for ice hockey starting the build over six months ago before his city went into lockdown.
The 66-year-old’s love for the sport began decades prior when he joined a local team at 16-years-old. However, as China began opening up to the business world in the 1990s and saw its economy boom, Mr Baoqi said he became increasingly busy and was unable to coordinate training.
But with the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Mr Baoqi now plays his beloved sport on his own ice-rink with his 10-year-old grandson.
“Well, speaking of my grandson, he is quite sporty and a bit too naughty, however, being naughty is good for skating,” Mr Baoqi said.
He added: “It’s mainly because of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
“If I had a rink when the Winter Olympics opens, it would be great. I started to think about it in summer. I want to show my neighbors that the Winter Olympics could be in your backyard, and we could all join it.”
Eager to get his ice rink perfect, Mr Baoqi told of how he waited until noon to pour the water on the surface to produce an even surface. He also added milk to the water to give it more resilience and make it tougher to break.
Mr Baoqi, who met his wife on an ice rink, said his family was initially against the radical idea.
“It took him four months to build the ice rink from scratch,” Mr Baoqi’s wife Chai Shuhua said, adding: “As he had a heart surgery, I said, why bother? We’re so close to the skating stadium.”
However, undeterred by their objections, Mr Baoqi was determined to make the most of the month-long ice season in Tianjin and built the ice rink before the start of the Winter Olympics “no matter what my family says.”
Explaining his DIY ice rink, Mr Baoqi said: “This plastic cloth is water-proof. This layer is for freeze-proofing. There is another layer, do you see that?
“I got two over here. This is for sound-proofing. And the big bucket over here, I have several more, and I use them to recycle water by watering vegetables and flowers that I grow. Water mustn’t be wasted.”
Mr Baoqi’s daughter, Zhang Miaoxuan, has already seen the impacts of ice hockey on her son.
“I felt my son has changed within a week of playing hockey,” she said. “When he played hockey in other ice rinks, he is not afraid of falling anymore. I believe the bravery is something that he’s gained from the sport.”
Mr Baoqi’s grandson added: “My grandpa called us to come over and said that there is a surprise on the terrace. I went out and saw it was all covered with ice! I felt so proud of it.”
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