How-to China: American Beijinger's passion for winter sports

Editor's Note: The eyes of the world are turning to China. In this ongoing series, we tell stories about how Chinese approaches promote understanding, solve problems and improve the lives of people around the globe.

With the 2022 Winter Olympics approaching, more and more people have turned their eyes to Beijing and the Olympics.

In an exclusive interview, Michael Wester, an American who has been living in Beijing for 21 years, shares his passion for ice and snow sports as well as his expectations for the Winter Olympics.

The following are some highlights from the interview. 

Q: Could you say something about your experience with winter sports?

Michael Wester: I grew up in New England, which climatically is very similar to Beijing. Its summers are hot and winters cold and mountains not too far away. I grew up in the suburbs of Boston. Skiing was very popular. A lot of people would go skiing over the weekend. Skating and ice hockey were also very popular. But strangely enough when I was a kid I never did any of these things. I couldn't stand up on skates. I'm one of four children of our parents. So taking the whole family out for a skiing vacation wasn't really possible because it was way too expensive. So I was an adult before I ever went skiing and I only learned how to skate when I was 22 years old. Now I love both sports.

I don't do much of them, but I have a daughter who is now 14. She was born here in Beijing. When she was young, I said to myself I enjoy skating so much I want to make sure she knows how to skate from a very early age. So from almost the time she could walk she started ice skating. She took a lot of lessons and we had a lot of fun together.

Q: Why do you like winter sports?  

Michael Wester: Even though I did not go skiing or skating when I was a kid, I would go sledding. In the winter if it snowed I would be outside sliding down the hill in a sled. That was my most treasured activity as a kid. Where I was growing up, the greatest thing in the world would be the snow day. There was so much snow that school would be canceled. And this was the best day of my life and you immediately went outside and brought out sleds. Near my neighborhood there's an ice hill, so we just sled until our fingers and toes were frozen and couldn't stand it anymore and we would go inside and just warm up slowly.

When I go ice skating, I just feel this like it is so freeing. You feel like you could go faster than anything than you could on a bike or running or anything like that. It just feels so amazing to slide across the ice on skates. That's one of my most favorite feelings in the world.

Q: Do you see any improvements in facilities as the Games draws near?

Michael Wester: I took the high-speed rail out to Chongli a few months ago. It was great. It was fantastic. You know I don't have a car in Beijing. So one of the reasons I don't typically head into the mountains is just figuring out how to get there. It's just kind of a pain. But now it's so easy. I was here for the run-ups to the 2008 Games and now here for the 2022 Games.

And I feel hosting the Olympics is a great chance for the city to improve its infrastructures. Not just for the Games but for the people who live here. So I feel like Beijing changed dramatically as a consequence of hosting the Games and it really wasn't just about those three weeks of Games.

It was more of a chance for the city to build itself, to improve its infrastructure. It's a motivating reason to say "let's make some massive improvements".

And the city that we were left with after 2008 was vastly improved from the process of preparing for the games. And I feel the same way about Beijing for the Winter Olympics.

And one of the things that I think is like a real point of pride for Beijing is the quality of the environment has improved so dramatically since 2008. Beijing still has bad air days, but if you compare now to say the worst it has been, it's so much different and so much more improved.

Q: Do you think winter sports have become more popular in China? 

Michael Wester: I'm sure it has. Twenty years ago when we started this company, we used to run ski trips. We would take people out into the mountains. And at that time most of the people who come with us would be foreigners. And you could tell when you get on the slopes that most of the Chinese people who were there were brand new to skiing. They were all on the beginner slopes. They were all taking lessons. You wouldn't see someone who takes all these fancy high-tech gears, they'd always use the rental equipment.

At that time, there wouldn't be many kids learning to skate. Now it's like that all the kids in this area take skiing lessons or go to ski camps. If you go out to the slopes now, there are people who look like they could be in the Olympics. 

Q: Do you think the epidemic will affect the successful hosting of the Games?

Michael Wester: Tokyo handled it very well. I think if you compare Beijing to Tokyo, Beijing is much more secure and careful about COVID control. The COVID situation is under control here probably more effectively than most cities around the world.

Other preparations for any possibility of anything happening are so advanced that even if something, worst case scenario, bunch of athletes get sick, they can handle it. There's a protocol in place to deal with this situation and maximizing everyone's personal safety.

Q: What are your expectations and wishes for the games? 

Michael Wester: I'm just excited about so many of the sports. I love to watch ice hockey, I love to watch speed skating, and I love to watch ice skating. So I think all three of those events will just be fun. I always think the Olympics are a good excuse to get into sports that you don't normally pay much attention to. It's interesting. I guess my one regret is that I was kind of hoping to be able to go to see some of the events you know, but probably it's unlikely.

About the interviewee

Michael Wester is the founder and CEO of True Run Media, which produces the popular magazine The Beijinger.