People taking part in a foot curling match at Shichahai in Beijing.
Foot curling is a traditional Beijing winter sport featuring distinct cultural characteristics of the city. According to historical records, foot curling has more than 300 years of history.
It is widely believed that foot curling originated from the game “fire cover kicking.” A fire cover was the iron protective plate used to close the mouth of the oven in ancient times. It is said that the game was designed to please Emperor Qianlong’s daughter, a princess who had a difficulty in using her fingers due to a hand defect.
Today, the game rules of foot curling and curling are very much alike, except the fact that foot curling does not involve hands. The foot curling rink is 12 meters long and two meters wide. A circle at the center is the score zone. There are two blue lines at both ends of the rink, indicating the boundary. The serve stone cannot cross the blue line on the other end of the rink. In one set, each team serves five times in turn. The team with its stone closest to the score zone center gains one point. Usually 10 sets are needed for a competition with the scores accumulated.
There is no physical contact allowed in the game, but rather simple playing techniques and tactics that have endeared it to a growing fan base. The traditional game was listed as intangible cultural heritage of Xicheng District of Beijing in May 2017. In recent years, Beijing has organized various events to further popularize and promote foot curling to the public, such as the Beijing Foot Curling Challenge Match, to engage more people to take part in winter sports. The coming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games has also sparked more interest in this ice-surface game.
There have also been training programs for foot curling instructors, which have qualified more than 1,300 people in Beijing. The game is now played by thousands of people of all ages and walks of life in Beijing.
It is also now part of sport events in a number of schools in Beijing, and has been featured in winter sports demonstrations at the Tsinghua University and the winter carnival at Shichahai Lake, and been regularly played at the Olympic Park in Beijing.
