我的北京冬天 Beijing in Winter: It’s So Dear to Me!

林巍

對于冬天，人們一般會用些冷酷、蕭瑟的字眼來形容;但北京的冬天對于我，卻有著別樣深切、濃重、惜情的感覺2。

[2]作為一個“老北京”，兒時的冬天是漫長的，但并不乏味，因為好像好吃、好玩的，特別是那種別具特色的北京味兒3，一定是在冬天。

[3]到了青壯年時，陰差陽錯，我移民到了澳大利亞的昆士蘭?。ā瓣柟馐　保?，那里一年四季陽光普照，溫暖如春。開始覺得很舒服，后來受不了4了。那時每當想起北京，就會與這些事情聯系在一起：魯迅筆下清冷的四合院，那里“有兩棵樹，一棵是棗樹，另一棵還是棗樹”（后來明白了，那喻意著斗士孤傲、剛強的性格），老舍的駱駝祥子在呼呼的西北風中奔跑，林海音的“城南舊事”，李敖冬天中的法源寺……，還有就是那些遍布于北京各大公園、城根、河溝的正規、不正規的“冰場”。于是，在國外居住了十余年后，第一次回國，專門選了冬天，來重溫5我的北京夢。

[4]父母說，我有三樣“童子功6”，會受益終生：滑冰、外語和寫字（當時還未上升到“書法”高度）?；俏覐男W開始學的，這也沾了北京傳統文化的光。

[5]那時聽老人講，自打清末起，滑冰便是一項時尚的運動，稱為“冰嬉”。因清朝貴族來自東北，而北京的冬季也是河湖結冰且冰期很長，冰嬉曾作為皇家冬季一項重要消遣活動，還被乾隆皇帝定為“國俗”。冰嬉的項目主要是冰上蹴鞠，酷似打冰球。再有是跑冰，即冰嬉者穿上一種帶有鐵齒的鞋，在冰上溜行，比賽爭先者奪標取勝。還有是“打滑撻”，冰嬉者從特制的冰山上往下滑，不倒者為勝。此外就是冰上雜戲了。故宮博物院藏有乾隆年間的《冰嬉圖》，描繪的就是當時宮廷盛大的冰嬉場面。

[6]據說清代每年臘八前后，受過訓練的八旗子弟都要舉行一場正式的比賽與表演，即“冰嬉大典”。除了集體隊列表演外，最引人眼球的是個人競技部分，如金雞獨立、鳳凰展翅、蜻蜓點水等高難度動作，絕不亞于今天的花樣滑冰。

[7]由于官方的大力推動，冰上運動在北京民間遍地開花7，小孩兒很早便在冰上混，最開始時是坐冰車，記得是用一把木椅子，下面釘上鐵條或鐵絲，由別人推著或用鐵釬子在冰上扎著走，從而有了最初的在冰上滑動、速行的感覺。稍大之后，不滿足了，要在冰上站起來獨行，于是以能穿上冰鞋為榮。

[8]就冰鞋的歷史而言，晚清時，京津一帶曾流行一種自制的冰鞋，俗稱“凌鞋”，由兩塊木板組成，上面分別釘著細鐵條。人們將木板緊扎在鞋上，便可在冰面上如履平地。每逢數九寒天，水面結冰，滑冰高手們便聚集到護城河冰面上，穿著凌鞋參加滑冰比賽，“如星馳電掣，爭先奪標為勝”。據說，有人曾穿著這種自制的冰鞋，清早從朝陽門出發，順著河道一路滑到通州，下午回來時手上端一碗通州的醬豆腐，以示自己跑了個來回。這在當時也成為老北京冬日的一景。

[9]到了民國初期，滑冰鞋的皮鞋可以由我國自行生產，再配上一副進口的冰刀，就成為中西合璧的滑冰鞋了?；瑑r格的降低，以及北京天然滑冰場的開設，都為北京群眾性冰上運動提供了必要條件，由此，北京的滑冰運動迅速普及起來。

[10]說到北京的溜冰去處，首先想起的自然是什剎海冰場，如果北京的冰場也有老字號，那就非什剎海冰場莫屬。什剎海本來就歷史悠久，經過700多年的文化積淀，形成了其獨特的魅力。這里原是古高梁河道，是一處天然水域，包括了前海、后海和積水潭。元建大都后，郭守敬奉旨修通惠河，引昌平白浮泉及以下諸泉入積水潭，形成了什剎海寬闊的水面，南來北往的糧船、商船停泊于此，以致“舳艫蔽水”;她的自然風光為燕京勝景之一，垂柳依依8，遠山如黛，中國書畫的意境在這里表現得淋漓盡致。到了冬天，什剎海萬頃水面又變身為琉璃似的光滑冰面，成為一處天然的大冰場，“引無數京人來嬉冬”。那里面，又鑲嵌了我兒時對北京的多少記憶！

[11]當年的文學作品《血色浪漫》里，男主角的一句問話，成了流行語9：“同學，你去什剎海溜過冰嗎？”而電視劇《夢開始的地方》中在什剎海溜冰的場面，女主角所說的“五湖的、四海的水，不如什剎海的冰場美”，更是為人所樂道10。

[12]那會兒的時髦形象都在冰場上：小伙兒穿著壓箱子底11的將校呢軍裝，戴羊剪絨的帽子，而姑娘們會圍著大紅的拉毛圍巾，腳上蹬一雙大老遠從上海托人買來的黑色或白色小高跟滑冰鞋，吵鬧、拉扯、“拍婆子12”，盡情在冰場上釋放著自己。

[13]當然，那時作為捕捉滑冰的去處，絕不只什剎海一地。特別是在正規冰場開放之前，天又足夠冷了，我們便背起冰鞋，“哪里有冰那里去”。譬如，護城河，那原是古人用來維護城內安全、抵御攻城者的，后形成了一道風景，特別是在冬天，結了冰，變成了雪白色，上面又出現了東倒西歪的滑冰者。其實，北京的護城河，不是一潭死水，玉泉、白浮泉、密云諸水，皆是它的上源，而護城河還與轉河、金水河、壩河、通惠河及“六?！毕嗤?，在京城的外圍，形成了一個巨大的水路交通網。印象深刻的，是在故宮的護城河上滑冰，忽然感到，一邊是歷史的凝重，一邊是現代的歡愉，古今對話，自然和諧13。

[14]此外，“尋冰”的地方還有北海公園、中山公園、紫竹院公園、玉淵潭、陶然亭等，如今隨著北京—張家口冬奧會申辦的成功，在這些地方相應都增加了一些冬季的游樂項目。

[15]與此同時，是在冰面上的“抽漢奸”。所謂“漢奸”其實就是個木制的陀螺（那時候買不起機器鏇出來的陀螺，都是自己動手做的），即找一段圓形的木棍或樹干用小刀慢慢地將一頭削成錐形，然后把握好需要的長度從錐形的上方鋸下來，再到修自行車的車鋪撿一顆滾珠鑲在圓錐的底部便可。重要的，是把握好漢奸的身高和腰圍，太胖了轉不起來，太瘦了又容易倒。做好了漢奸再找一根小木棍，拴上一條布條，就能“抽”轉起來。老人們說，因為小日本侵占了北京城，不少漢奸助紂為虐，于是老百姓就把陀螺當成漢奸來抽，以解心頭之恨，后來這竟成了孩子們的一項冬季運動。在北京冬天的冰面上，還?？煽吹胶⒆觽円贿吇贿叧橹鴿h奸，像是打冰球時帶球滑行。鞭子功夫好的，可以邊滑行邊用鞭子控制高速轉動的陀螺緊隨自己平移，甚至讓陀螺騰空躍起，越過障礙后再“釘”在冰上繼續旋轉。

[16]在不少“老北京”的記憶里，一定忘不了當年火爆至極的冰球賽。1981年，男子冰球世錦賽C組在北京舉行，能容納1.8萬人的首都體育館幾乎場場爆滿。據說，比賽引發的熱潮席卷了整個京城，火爆度足以和今天的CBA總決賽相媲美。

[17]可喜的是，自2016年以來，為積極響應“三億人參與冰雪14”的號召，北京市各區已經開始統籌冰雪運動優勢資源，因地制宜，加大力度推動冰雪項目的發展。同時，北京市體育局和市教委聯合還啟動了“百萬青少年上冰雪15”項目，在未來將從六方面開展落實這一冰雪運動普及活動。

[18]現在，每當我冬天回到北京，都喜歡獨自漫步在西北風中的小胡同，清冷寂靜的公園，高聳的故宮城墻下，當然更少不了那結冰一片的湖畔。這時會深深意識到，所走的每一步16，都是歷史，都是經歷，都是現實;它們似乎都已過去，但又永遠那么真切。惟其寒冷，更能顯出其厚重與包容。我甚至想，沒有在冬天來過北京的，不能算是真正到過北京。

[19]這樣的北京是我的，也是你的，是千千萬萬有過同樣感受17的人的。2022年的冬天，當全球的冬季奧運健兒們來到這里時，多么希望他們都能從各自的角度，來分享18一份北京冬天里的情結！

In describing winter， people prefer to use cold and bleak words. I have， however， formed a deep and strong attachment to Beijing’s winters.

[2] As a native Beijinger， winters in Beijing during my childhood were lengthy but never boring since the delicious food and amusements characterizing Beijing were all related to winter.

[3] As a young adult， I accidentally immigrated to Australia’s Queensland where the sun shines all year round： branded as a “sunshine state”， the climate is mild and springlike even in winter. After the initial excitement， I started to miss Beijing， which has always been intricately intertwined with such things as the chilly courtyard where “There are two trees， one is jujube and the other is jujube as well” wrote Lu Xun， symbolizing a fighter’s spirit and personality of solitude （as I later understood）， the camel Xiang Zi （a character in a Lao She’s novel） running in the whirring of the northwest wind， Lin Haiyin’s Memories of Beijing， and Temple of Origin of the Dharma Gate by Li Ao， and all the authorized and unauthorized ice rinks in parks and rivers and near ancient ramparts spreading over Beijing in winter. It was precisely for this reason that I chose a winter to come back Beijing to revive dreams from my past.

[4] My parents once told me that I had acquired three “skills gained from childhood” that would benefit me throughout my life， which are skating， foreign languages and hand writing （which didn’t quite reach the level of calligraphy at the time）. I learned how to skate when I was a mere primary school student， nurtured by the traditional culture of Beijing.

[5] According to the elderly， ever since the late Qing Dynasty， skating had been a fashionable sport， dubbed bing xi or “ice playing”. Coming from the northeast， the aristocrats of the Qing Dynasty found the winter of Beijing quite agreeable， where the rivers and lakes were frozen for a pretty lengthy period. Once a royal pastime， Emperor Qianlong then further declared “ice-playing” a guosu or “national custom”. The “ice-playing” was all about Cuju， very much like ice hockey， together with “running on ice” （putting on a pair of shoes with iron teeth then drifting on ice to compete for the first prize）. Another game called dahuata or “the big descent” was to sliding down a manmade iceberg and the slider would win if he or she could manage not to fall over. In addition， there were various ice-acrobatics. A painting named “Ice-playing” in the Palace Museum collection depicts the grand scene of the sport.

[6] It was said that every year around laba （on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month）， the trained Banner Children would hold a formal game as an “ice-playing ceremony”. Apart from the collective cohort performance， the most eye-catching part was their individual athletics， such as posing as a “pheasant standing on one foot”， “phoenix spreading wings”， “dragonfly skimming the ice surface” and so on， their difficult moves being nothing less than today’s figure skating.

[7] Thanks to the official vigorous promotion， ice-sports became very popular among Beijing folks. Children started to play on the ice in their very early years， mostly with an “ice-chair” made by fixing iron bars or iron wires to the bottom of a wooden chair. They moved forward either by another’s pushing or by using iron drills， to gain their initial feeling of movement and speed on the ice. Later on， as they grew up a bit， they normally desired more independent moves on the ice and took great pride in wearing skating boots.

[8] As for the history of making skates， in the late Qing Dynasty， homemade skates known as “ice-shoes” were made from two pieces of wood with iron bars on the bottom. By tying the wood tightly to the shoes， one could “walk” fast on the ice as easily as on firm earth. Once the rivers were all frozen， the skillful skaters gathered on the city’s moats to compete being described as “moving as fast as flashing light to win the first prize”. It was also said that， wearing such homemade skates， someone could skate from Chao yang Gate in the morning along the river course all the way to Tongzhou and return in the afternoon with a bowl of Tofu in their hands to show they had made the return journey， which was a typical scenario of old Beijing.

[9] In the early of the Republic of China， skates could be produced by ourselves： a pair of ice-skate blades imported from the West and a pair of shoes made in China could combine to become perfect skates. The declining price of skates and the commercial operation of several natural ice rinks in Beijing provided the necessary conditions for ice-sports becoming popular among the locals in winters.

[10] Concerning the places where people can skate， the first one that comes to mind has to be the ice rink in Shichahai： if there was such a thing as an old and famous skating enterprise， it would be nowhere but here. Shichahai， a place amassing a cultural history over 700 years， possesses a unique charm. Originally， it was an ancient sorghum-growing river， a natural water area comprising the former sea， backwater and billabong. After establishing the Yuan Dynasty （1271—1368）， Guo Shoujing （1231—1316） was ordered by the emperor to repair the Tonghui River， channeling water from the White Spring and other small springs in Changping County to form the broad surface of the water in Shichahai， providing a port for victuallers and merchant ships of all routes to anchor， and the surface of the water was densely covered during busy times. Its natural beauty—weeping willows against the dim backdrop of distant hills—forms one of the eight sceneries of Yanjing and presents a perfect artistic conception depicted in traditional Chinese paintings. In the winter， the water surface becomes glassy ice， shaping a natural ice rink where “countless Beijingers are attracted to play”. For me， it is the place encapsulating endless memories during my childhood and youth！

[11] In those years， the hero’s query in the literary work Romantic Life became a popular sentence： “Classmate， have you skated in Shichahai？” And in a teleplay named The Place to Dream the heroine’s phrase had excited much interest among the public as well： “The water flowing to the east and west， when frozen in Shichahai is the best.”

[12] Fashionable images of the time were to be found on the ice rink： Boys wore worsted coat uniforms （often family heirlooms） and put on sheepskin hats， while girls normally sported scarves of royal scarlet with black or white medium heel skates on their feet， which were probably bought by somebody in Shanghai a thousand kilometres away. They were noisy， dragging and pulling and courting with abandon.

[13] The places we searched out for skating were surely not confined to Shichahai. Especially before the authorized ice rinks started to operate and the weather was cold enough， we picked up our skates and determinedly looked for rivers and lakes wherever they were frozen. Most often， we went to the city moats， which were originally used by the ancients to maintain security and defend invaders， later forming a landscape， especially in winter when they were frozen and became white， and stumbling figures appeared on the ice. In fact， moats in Beijing are not stagnant pools but are sourced by the waters of the Yuquan， White Spring， Miyun， as well as Zhuan， Jinshui， Ba and Tonghui rivers and the “Six Seas”， constituting a huge waterway network on the outskirts of the capital. One thing engraved in my memory was that one day when skating on the Forbidden City moat， I suddenly realized the harmonious communication between the solemn ancient and the entertaining present.

[14] Additional places suitable for skating， so at least it seemed us， also included Beihai， Zhongshan， Zizhuyuan， Yuyuantan， Taoranting and other parks. Since the success of Beijing-Zhangjiakou’s bid for the Winter Olympic Games， some facilities for winter sports have been installed in these parks.

[15] At the same time， another activity taking place on ice was “slashing traitors”. The so-called “traitor” was actually a wooden gyro. Since people then could not afford to buy machine-made ones， they all used ones made by themselves from a round stick or trunk. By shaping it into a conical block with a knife， chopping off everything above the cone-shape， taking it to the bicycle shop to set an iron ball on the bottom and enabling it to spin， a perfect “traitor” was then made. The point was to balance the proportion between the height and waist to avoid being too “fat” to spin or too “slim” to be stable. Holding a small stick tied with a piece of cloth one could then slash it to spin. As related by the elderly， during the Japanese occupation， some Chinese traitors assisted the invaders to perpetrate， so people made “traitors” to be slashed to resolve the hatred in their hearts， which later became a winter sport for children. On the ice during the Beijing winter， you can often find children skating while slashing “traitors”， very much like playing ice hockey. Some skillful ones can control the speedy gyros with the whip and make them roll in parallel， even levitate them to cross over hurdles and then descend to “nail” the ice， while still continuing to rotate.

[16] For many native Beijingers， an extremely popular ice hockey game may never be forgotten. In 1981， the men’s ice hockey Group C world championship was held in the capital stadium， where every section was filled to its full capacity of 18，000 people. It is said that the game triggered the upsurge in interest sweeping the whole city， matched by today’s CBA finals.

[17] To my delight， since 2016， in responding to the call to “involve 300 million people to participate in winter-sports”， Beijing’s districts have started to co-ordinate their advantageous resources in promoting the development of ice and snow events. Meanwhile， the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau and the City Board of Education have also jointly launched a project to “encourage a million youngsters to partake in ice and snow”， so as to popularize the winter sports from six aspects.

[18] Nowadays， whenever I return to Beijing in winters， I like to stroll against strong winds in small alleys， cold and quiet parks， under the towering ramparts of the Forbidden City， and of course， along the frozen lakeside. With these steps， I cannot help but gain a deep sense of history， experience and reality. Things may have passed but they still appear vivid. The coldness in fact may manifest more of its profoundity and inclusiveness. I even wonder whether those who have been to Beijing outside of the winter season， have really been to Beijing.

[19] This kind of Beijing belongs to me， you and everybody who has been touched by the capital. In the winter of 2022， when the winter Olympic athletes of the world come here to participate in the events， I sincerely hope that they will all enjoy their own unique experience in the winter of Beijing.