Ice Hockey, Ice skating ( 冰球 bīngqiú, 滑冰 huábīng )

If you want to go ice skating in Shenyang, there’s lots of places to go in the winter. Nanhu Park and Beiling Park both have lakes that are cleared for skating, weather permitting of course. At Beiling park there it may be possible to rent skates by the hour. Some of Shenyang’s universities have ice rinks as well. Northeastern University has a fairly large rink, but it’s usually packed with students, and you may have to pay a small fee to skate there. You can buy hockey, figure, and speed skates at many of the shops near Shenyang Sports Gymnasium. 

  

If you want to play hockey, there are several options.  There is a group of students that play at Northeastern University around noontime during the winter. Otherwise you will find people playing on the lake at Nanhu Park every day in the morning or early afternoon. If you’re looking for a higher level of competition, there is a group of guys that plays a pick-up game every Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon, year round, in Liaoning Province’s only indoor ice rink. They even have an unofficial team that periodically plays games against teams from Beijing, Dalian, Jilin, Harbin, Korea, and Russia. They are very welcoming to foreigners who want to join in. The rink is located near the East Gate of Beiling Park. Hockey equipment is hard to come by in Shenyang, but some of the guys make occasional trips to Harbin to buy gear. If you’re able to meet the players they will be more than happy to help you find equipment, but for those hockey lovers planning to move to Shenyang for an extended period of time, it’s worthwhile to bring your own skates from home. 

   

For more information about hockey, contact Ethan Olson: eaolson2004@yahoo.com