A sole athlete from Vietnam is set to compete at the ongoing 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, determined to break barriers for a tropical country in the world of winter sports.
Duong Truong Lap, Vietnam’s sole representative, is joined by his coach and the chef de mission, representing three generations of winter sports athletes from the country. Together, they have traveled to Harbin for this historic moment.
For an athlete from a tropical nation like Vietnam, competing in short track speed skating presents a significant challenge.
"In Vietnam, we only have two ice rinks, and they're small., so Lap often travels to neighboring countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines for training camps organized by the International Skating Union," said Quang Vinh Ngo, head of mission for the team.
Lap said his journey began with inline speed skating, but he quickly fell in love with short track speed skating.
"It's like flying on the ice, especially when your hands touch the surface," he said.
The team members are in Harbin for the first time, busy taking photos, exploring the crowds, buying equipment, and doing plenty of shopping.
Despite the chilly minus 20 degrees Celsius temperatures, Team Vietnam is determined to give their best on the ice, sharing their passion with other tropical countries.
"We hope the winter game (sports) in Vietnam can be developed faster, stronger, and Vietnam will be a member of the winter sport in the world," said Vo Huu Vinh Nguyen, the team's coach.
Running from February 7 to 14 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, the 9th Asian Winter Games has gathered 1,275 competitors from 34 countries and regions, making it the largest edition of the Games in history in terms of participation.
Vietnam's sole athlete at 2025 Asian Winter Games aims to break barriers in winter sports
Vietnam's sole athlete at 2025 Asian Winter Games aims to break barriers in winter sports
Sticky rice dumpling producers in east China's Zhejiang Province are experimenting with new flavors and scaling up output ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, a major holiday in China closely associated with the traditional food, known as zongzi.
More than one billion of these dumplings are produced each year in Zhejiang's Jiaxing City, which ranks first in the country in terms of zongzi output, output value, and sales revenue. Much of that production happens in preparation for the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on June 19 this year.
Factories in the city have been buzzing since the beginning of peak season for zongzi production, which arrives in March every year. Zhejiang Qinglian Food Company has been receiving orders from all over the country since March and is currently operating at full capacity, with a peak daily output of nearly 200,000 zongzi.
"Our overall production capacity has increased by about 40 to 50 percent compared with the same period last year, and sales have grown proportionally. Market feedback has been very positive, with products selling across the country, particularly in the Shanghai and Hangzhou areas," said Guo Shali, general manager of the company's fresh zongzi business unit.
Wufangzhai, another leading zongzi company in Jiaxing, has been dedicating significant effort to new product development in recent years. Beyond traditional offerings like meat and red bean paste zongzi, the company has introduced innovative options such as eel and small fish zongzi, marketing them with a "low-fat and health-conscious" appeal.
"Our philosophy is that 'anything can be a zongzi filling. While eel is highly popular in Japan, China holds unique advantages across the entire eel supply chain. By combining these elements, we were able to create an eel zongzi that remains relatively affordable for consumers," said Li Yanfei, deputy general manager of Wufangzhai's international business department.
Stores around China are beginning to stock zongzi as consumers get ready to celebrate the holiday. In addition to brick-and-mortar sales, zongzi companies are investing heavily in e-commerce to expand their market reach, driven by improvements in freshness-preserving technology.
The zongzi’s connection to the Dragon Boat Festival is a tradition that goes back thousands of years. The holiday commemorates the life and death of Qu Yuan (340 BC-278 BC), who committed suicide by wading into the Miluo River in protest against the wrongful policies of the feudal dynasty in his times.
The local people raced their boats to find the beloved Qu in the river and threw balls of sticky rice into the river to keep the fish from eating his body. Since then, people have been celebrating the festival by holding dragon boat races and eating the traditional dumplings.
Chinese Zongzi companies pump up production ahead of Dragon Boat Festival
