OlymPicks: China's Hockey Team, Where to Score Olympics Merch, Events Schedule Released

OlymPicks: China's Hockey Question, Where to Score Olympics Merch, Events Schedule Released

Vincent R. Vinci, Managing Editor | Oct 14, 2021 12:16 pm | Add a comment | 161 reads

In OlymPicks, we highlight news, gossip, and developments regarding the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.

Will China put forth an Olympics hockey team?

The US National Hockey League (NHL) announced a few weeks ago that it’d be returning for the 2022 Games, but what about China? According to an article from Sports Illustrated, the host nation still hasn’t said whether or not it'll put together a team in time for February.

The reason could be pretty simple: Hockey isn’t that big in China, so the country may not want to compete in an event it isn’t sure it’ll do well in. And as competitive as China is when it comes to international tournaments like the Olympics, looking good all-around as host is what they’re probably aiming for, even if it means missing out on some of the more major events.

International testing events kick-off

The 53-year-old Capital Gymnasium has been repurposed for the Olympics and started hosting figure skating testing events as of Oct 12. This follows the opening of testing events on Oct 10, with speed skating trials at the newly built National Speed Skating Oval – aka Ice Ribbon – in which athletes from China, the Netherlands, and South Korea took part.

These testing events are mainly geared towards improving venues and operation capabilities ahead of any Games, sort of like a big international dress rehearsal – but with a little more sweat and grit thrown in.

Grab some Beijing-inspired Olympics merch

Along with some pretty sweet posters combining Chinese culture with Olympics elements, new buttons featuring some very Beijing-related themes have been unveiled. Our favorite has to be the one featuring 兔儿爷 the Rabbit God, a colorful half-rabbit half-human figure which is said to represent the rabbit on the Moon.

If you’re looking to score some Olympics merch ahead of the Games, there are a number of official shops you can find across the city, chief among them in Wangfujing and Tian’anmen Square. If you want to find other locations, simply search 北京2022官方特许商品 Běijīng 2022 Guānfāng Tèxǔ Shāngpǐn Beijing 2022 Official Licensed Products to find the shop nearest you.

The tale of the tickets

While no announcements have been made as to when tickets for the Games will go on sale, we’ve noticed a number of accounts and people claiming they can help WeChat users buy tickets when the time comes, so long as you pay them to hold a spot.

We’re not saying these accounts aren’t legit, but based on past experiences and how ticketing worked for the 2008 Games, there should be no need to get a spot in line or rely on a service to buy tickets – this is the Olympics, an international event, we’re talking about, so it shouldn’t be as difficult as trying to change your train tickets at the railway station at the peak of Golden Week while relying on limited Chinese. In other words, everything should be relatively easy and multilingual.

That being said, should there be any restrictions on tickets in regards to anti-epidemic controls or other reasons, we’ll write it up here as soon as we hear about it.

Olympics' events schedule released

A detailed schedule for the Games has been released by Beijing 2022 organizers. It lists dates and times for all events in the games across every discipline, from alpine skiing to bobsleigh to hockey. Check it out here.