ICE RINK OPENING DATE IS NOW SET

On April 22nd, the new MIXC mall will have a soft opening and the new rink will be visible for all to see. We will offer tours inside the rink and have lessons and VIP memberships on sale. We will not open the rink to public until May 10th because the rink will have been set up for a major professional ice show called WIWA (Wind and Water) which begins May 1st thru the 5th. Directed by Darren Olivero and Choreographed by David Liu, the show has many international stars including Surya Bonaly, Laurent Tobel (both world medalists), Richard Dwyer (Ice Capades and Ice Follies star), Nathan Chen (2010 US National Novice Men's Champion) and many others. Show time is 730pm daily and ticket only available to MIXC VIP Cardholders. Free viewing on 5th level on first come basis. Show is 45 min in duration and features a Cirque du Soliel type show of skating, dance, musicians and even Arial artists over the ice. Richard Dwyer will be doing "Singing in the Rain" underneath a real rainfall (if the system works as planned). Hours of the rink are as follows once open for public skating: WEEKDAYS - Daily 10am to 5pm (rmb 40 per skater) and 5:30pm to 10pm (rmb 50 per skater). Price includes rental skates and locker. WEEKENDS AND SCHOOL/PUBLIC HOLIDAYS: 10am to 12noon, 1230pm to 230pm, 3pm to 5pm, 530pm to 730pm and 8pm to 10pm. All sessions, all skaters rmb. 60 including rental skates and locker. Skating school reservations available at the rink. Sale of unlimited skating membership cards also available. Skaters must observe safety and behavior rules. Nurse on duty at all times. IceCafe for light snacks and meals. Dance studio available for off ice training, aerobics and even private birthday functions. Pro shop for apparel, skates, blades, novelties, books and video's. World Ice Arena is a member of China Resources Land based in Shenzhen and is one of 2 rinks currently open and another 3 currently in progress in Shenyang, Nanning and Chengdu. Other rinks planned for Kunming, Qindao, Nanjing and Wuhan. Contact tedhangzhou@gmail.com for other information. ALL WORLD ICE ARENA RINKS ARE LOCATED IN LUXURY CLASS MALLS. ICE HOCKEY GAMES AND PRACTICE IS NOT A PART OF ANY OF THESE FACILITIES ALTHOUGH HOCKEY AND SPEED SKATES ARE ALLOWED PROVIDED SPEED AND SAFETY RULES ARE STRICTLY OBSERVED. THERE IS NOT PLAN TO INTRODUCE HOCKEY AT ANY OF THESE RINKS AS THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED AS SPORTS VENUES, BUT RECREATIONAL ICE RINKS IN SHOPPING MALLS.

THE MIXC AND ICE ARENA NEAR TO OPENING DATE

The MIXC shopping mall construction is completed and now they are decorating all the shops for a soft opening in late April. The ice arena inside the mall put on its first ice this week so we can begin training staff on skating, traffic control, first aid, customer service and general rink maintenance work. Hangzhou people will not only be very surprised at what they find in this mall, but I am sure this will inspire other developers to try and match the spectacle of this giant project (in their dreams....).

FIRST ICE ON THE NEW RINK

Today we are installing the new logo onto the fresh ice. While the rink will not open until April, we are preparing the ice early to train our staff in all the areas necessary to operate a fully professional and commerical ice skating facility.

UPDATE BULLETIN

We have just been informed of two large events that will be staged at the new World Ice Arena in Hangzhou. In May, we will present a spectacular professional ice show that will run from 7 to 14 days each evening. Tickets will be distributed by the MIXC marketing department and are to be offered to customers based on a minimum spending amount. The show is directed by Darren Olivero and Choreographed by 4 time Olympian David Liu. The international cast will include current World and Olympic medalists.

We have now submitted our bid to host Skate Asia 2010, a world recreational skating competition that will be in August for 7 days. Up to 1000 skaters from more than 20 countries will take part. The event is recreational, meaning that the kids and adults who take part are not professional skaters but people who skate for the fun of it. Viewing of this will be free to anyone who comes to the mall and runs from 8am to 10pm daily. Also any of our skating school students who wish to join are most welcome as well. Skate Asia is organized by the Ice Skating Institute of Asia and is held each summer in a different Asian country. Competitors come from all over Asia, Middle East, Europe and North America.

7 MAY 2009 MIXC CONSTRUCTION SITE VIDEO

In this latest video, taken from our offices on May 7, 2009, you can see the construction site of the new luxury shopping complex called MIXC and its relationship to the new Grand Theatre and Intercontinental Hotel. The 3 towers to left of our mall building are the MIXC Residences. Construction is progressing well and we will open the mall in March 2010, but expect to have ice on the rink in January for staff training as well as some pre-opening skating events

ICE ARENA SITE VISIT MAY 4, 2009

This is a quick visit to the site. Opening shows off-ice areas. As camera pans around you will see the enormous size of the ice surface area. We expect to have all of this completed by the end of this year, with a pre-opening in January, soft opening in March and full grand opening for the May holiday so one way or another, you'll be on ice by this time next year.

MIXC - COMING SOON

WEALTH OF SKATING INFORMATION HERE

Want to find a website with everything involving skating. The best site we've found is www.goldenskate.com. Take a look. It's the best.....

ICE SKATING INSTITUTE ASIA LTD.

Almost every ice rink in Southeast Asia is a member of the Ice Skating Institute Asia Ltd, an umbrella organization of ISI in the United States. ISI is 53 years old and has more than 500 rinks worldwide and about 200,000 skaters as members. Rinks in Asia adopted this system for commercial rinks in 1980 to encourage the general public to skate by offering a series of skating tests that were from very easy to very difficult to achieve. Each rink who is a member usually hosts their own competition each year, inviting any ISI member to join in. Our rink in Shenzhen usually has their annual competition in November. Likewsie, ISIAsia is the home of Skate Asia, a major world recreational skating competition that hosts more than 1000 skaters. The first and only time it's been held in China was 2006 in Shenzhen with more than 1100 skaters from 20 countries taking part. All competitions of ISI are fun and every skater does win a medal for their work and effort. There are no losers. World Ice Arena Hangzhou is a member of ISIAsia.

This year, Skate Malaysia, held at the Pyramid Ice Rink in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will host it's annual skating event.

Skate Malaysia site is at http://www.skatemalaysia.com.my.
Skate Asia 2010 Hangzhou http://www.skateasia2010.blogspot.com
ISIAsia website, go to http://www.isiasia.org.
Ice Skating Institute (USA) go to http://www.skateisi.org.
The International Skating Union site is http://www.isu.org
The Chinese Skating Federation site is http://www.chnfs.org
The US Figure Skating site is http://www.usfigureskating.org
The Canadian Figure skating site is http://www.skatecanada.org
World Ice Arena Shenzhen http://www.worldicearena.com
David Liu (Skater/Dancer http://www.davidliu.org


What is the difference between ISU and ISI programs?

The International Skating Union is the world governing body for the sport of figure and speed skating and are based in Switzerland (www.isu.org). Most countries including China recognize ISU as the official body for the sport and it is the job of the national association (Chinese Skating Federation) to find, train and submit qualified skaters for local, provincial, national, world and Olympic competitions under the Chinese flag. Their objectives do not include promotion of commercial skating or to recognize skaters achievements outside the programs that they themselves organize. In China most people regard the Chinese national team and provincial team skaters as "professionals" meaning they are very accomplished world-class competitors. In the west, the word "professional" usually implies that the person earns a fee or makes a living at his work.

The Ice Skating Institute is an organization based in Dallas, Texas, that was started in 1956 to help promote skating on a recreational level. While numerous skaters who started in this program went on to win Gold in World and Olympic competitions under the ISU program, all started after a casual visit to their local ice rink. The ISIAsia program started in 2000 after ISI (USA) accepted a proposal by Ted Wilson to setup an office in Hong Kong that caters entirely to Asian and middle east ice rinks and skaters. The program has about 10,000 members at present. The ISIAsia organization holds an annual and sometimes bi-annual meeting of all ice rink managers to discuss programs, skaters rules, and upcoming events as well as elect officers. The current ISIAsia President is Mr. Raul Gomes, Manager of Riviera Ice Chalet in Hong Kong. This is his third term. The next election is in 2010. The ISI program is not designed to compete against the ISU program in any way but to cater to the needs of people who choose not to be involved in a sport that requires speciality and all-day training year after year. Skaters skate at their own leisure and join in competitions or shows just for the fun, and not to win medals for their country. The ISI program is a very social program catering to the needs of the person who skates entirely for personal pleasure.

OUR SHENZHEN RINK

Here is a short video of our rink in Shenzhen. Our rink in Hangzhou will be 5m longer but enjoy the same type spacious room. One major difference is the Hangzhou rink has 3 rows of seating on the level above on 3 sides of the rink. We will also have a large window which faces the ice.

WANT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR OUR TEAM?

If you have any real skating experience and wish to be considered as a member of our operations or coaching team, please contact alex.yeung@crshk.com (Chinese) or ted@crshk.com (English) for an initial appointment. Hiring will not begin until January 2010, but no reason not to think ahead if you really enjoy this sport. We are also considering people with no skating experience to join our general staff as we will conduct 8 weeks of intensive training both on and off the ice and we guarantee you'll be skating by the end of the course. Some of the positions we will be looking for include marketing, administrative, reservations clerks, cashiers, ice rink staff (who work both on and off the ice), graphic artist, coaches, assistant managers, food service counter, etc.

SKATING AT ANY AGE

Photo is of 1-1/2 year old Nikita Petrov with Mom Chen Lu and dad Denis Petrov (both are Olympic medalists and world champions who head our school at our Shenzhen World Ice Arena).

When you think of all the action sports where accidents could and often do occur, ice skating ranks toward the bottom of the list. Because of the unusual nature of skating it would get media coverage whereas broken bones on a football field would go unnoticed. The accident rate at ice rinks is a tiny fraction of 1 percent as compared to other popular sports including football, swimming, diving, tennis, etc. As this is a new sport for Hangzhou we are highly recommending you invest in lessons. They are fun, challenging, and will get you skating around the ice in no time at all. How young can they start? Lets say age is not the factor, its if the child is walking alone comfortably for at least a year, then they can learn to skate. Our youngest in Shenzhen is 1-1/2 years and our oldest is a man age 82. Safety equipment for beginners should include a soft headband (sweatband) or a good fitting helmet. Gloves, knee, elbow and wrist guards...the same kind you would wear for roller blading and is available everywhere. Children under age 13 are required to wear gloves at all times. All skaters will be checked for proper lacing before they go onto the ice so read the instructions or ask for help.

THE MIXC SHOPPING MALLS AND ICE ARENAS

China Resources Land based in Hong Kong and Sun Hung Kai (Hong Kong) are joint venture partners in the Hangzhou MIXC mall, residential, hotel and office building project now underway.

The original MIXc shopping mall (owned and operated by China Resources Land) is located in the Luohu district (Shennan Rd and Baoan Nan Rd) in Shenzhen. It opened on Jan 1, 2005 and is today the premier shopping mall not only in Shenzhen but all of China. The concept of the MIXc is included in a larger complex called Citycrossing which includes a grade A office tower, a new Grand Hyatt Shenzhen Hotel, the luxury Park Lane apartments and the two largest Gucci and Louis Vuitton's stores in Asia. With more than 40 food and restaurant outlets in the mall and a 12 screen luxury cinema, a visit to Shenzhen isn't complete without a stop here. Our second MIXc will be in Hangzhou followed shortly after by Shenyang, then Chengdu and Nanning (these last 3 projects owned entirely CR Land only). All of the malls have Olympic size ice rinks except for Chengdu which is slightly smaller due to space limitations.

AND NOW, A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON. SONJA HENIE

Believe it or not, one woman was almost totally responsible for figure skating as we know it today. Her name was Sonja Henie from Oslo, Norway. She was 10 times world Champion and 3 times Olympic gold medalist. She came to Hollywood and made numerous highly successful movies and amassed a fortune in the 1930's and 40's making her the world's richest woman, and all because of skating. She was known to be a tough business woman and demanded to be paid in cash for all performances. She collected diamonds and jewels as well as famous works of art. She had her own touring ice show that travelled the world. She died in 1967 of leukemia while on a flight from Paris to Oslo in her private jet. She left behind an enormous art museum in Oslo called the Henie Onstad Art Center. She was the first woman to wear a short skirt on the ice, the first to wear white ice skates as well and was the first woman to do a jump while in competition. In 2002, Ted Wilson of this new HZ project, donated one of Sonja's dresses, used in the movie, "It's a Pleasure", to the museum in Norway where it's now on permanent display. Google Sonja Henie for more information.

WERE DO ICE SKATES COME FROM?

It's interesting to note that the majority of the ice skates produced in the world actually come from right here in China.

Major boot makers such as Jackson (Canada), Riedell (USA) both produce rental skates and entry level skates in factories in southern China. These boots are made to Canadian and USA Standards and are of the highest quality. If you're after competition level boots and blades, the finest boots come from San Francisco (both Harlick and SP Teri are based there and they serve the majority of the world's best skaters. Kneble in Canada also makes competition level boots but their market is primarily Canadian skaters.

There are a few other boot makes in Austria and even in Australia that also serve this exclusive market. As for blades, well all of the MK and Wilson blades come from England where they've made skate blades for more than 100 years. Wilson even made blades for the boots worn by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. These old skates are now kept in a bank vault and are brought out only on special occasions. The Jackson-Ultima company of Canada also produces beautiful figure skating blades that are made in Taiwan.

The World Ice Arena Hangzhou will supply just about any kind of skate you might need but in some cases we might have to order directly from the manufacturer. We specialize in figure skating equipment but can also get most hockey and speed skates as well.

As a matter of curiosity, there are 2 other sports which use ice rinks but without ice skates. One is Broomball (highly popular in the USA) and Curling (an Olympic sport popular in Europe and Canada and now even in northern China).

MICHELLE KWAN, GREATEST LADIES SKATER

While not born in China, Michelle Kwan's father comes from Guangzhou and mom is from Hong Kong. She grew up in California and the entire family gave up everything to keep her on the ice. She has won more medals than any skater in history including 5 world championships. While she never won the Olympic Gold medal, her attitude about this was one of acceptance and grace. She currently studies at Denver University in International Politics. She has a small dog named Tofu which accompanies her to the rink everyday. Michelle owns her own beautiful ice rink in Artesia, Calif. (see www.eastwesticepalace.com). She also has a home in Manhattan Beach, CA not far from LAX airport.

THE ZAMBONI

If you have ever wondered that is the purpose of the ice resurfacer and how they choose the pattern for it to drive, see the diagram here. Follow the black lines then to blue, then to red then to green to see the actual driving pattern.

The Zamboni not only makes a cut into the ice to make it smooth, but also lays down a thin sheet of hot water which then melts any remaining "snow" so that the surface has a mirror finish. These machines are expensive and very heavy as they use battery power to operate. The batteries alone weight more than 5,000 lbs. Our new machine arrives in Hangzhou May 1st and will be lifted by crane (inside it's container) around May 8th to the 4th floor level of the building. Weight of this machine is 5 tons. Some members of our staff will be given special training on the machine's operation by a highly qualified teacher who has more than 25 years experience driving the Zamboni. On a daily basis, we plan to resurface the ice at our rink every 2 hours, 7 days a week during opening hours (10am to 10pm daily).

These famous machines, which are used at 99% of the world's ice rinks, are made in 3 factories. The big electric and propane powered 500 series come from Paramount, California near Los Angeles (and is the home base for all Zamboni's). The smaller model 400 series are made in Canada and also in Switzerland. Almost all Zamboni's for China come from the California plant.

HOW ICE RINKS WORK

Ever wondered how and ice rink actually works? Follow this link to find out: http://www.howstuffworks.com/ice-rink.htm

GOOGLE EARTH MAPS (Click to enlarge)

To blow up this image, just click on it. This is not a recent satellite photo, but does show the location of The MIXC site which is where the new ice arena is also located. In reality, the entire mall building is already constructed and now under final decoration. Our 3 luxury residential towers are also nearing competition next to the mall. As you can see it's just off Chingchun Rd, which in that area today is blocked from traffic while construction is underway.

WANT INFORMATION ON THE HANGZHOU RINK?

If you are wanting more information on this beautiful new project, Contact Alex Yeung (Chinese language) at alex.yeung@crshk.com or Ted Wilson (English language) at ted@crshk.com. If you are interested in employment at the ice rink we will be happy to keep you informed. You can send your resume WITH A PHOTOGRAPH to Ted Wilson at tedhangzhou@gmail.com. The shopping mall website is www.hzmixc.com

ICE RINK ASSISTANT RAYMOND WU

Graduating in 2008 from the National Aviation University of the Ukraine, Raymond Wu is a native of Hangzhou. Raymond speaks fluent Russian and English and has been on the rink team since graduation.

Raymond workload includes getting the Zamboni and other foreign items into the country as well as locating many items such as the turnstiles and sound/lighting system.

ICE RINK ASSISTANT LISA HU

Lisa Hu, a Hangzhou native and attended Zhejiang University of Technology, graduating 2007. She has been working on the ice rink project since mid 2008. Lisa speaks fluent English.

Lisa is working on our new website with the design company as well as locating things we need such as the thermal blanket which covers the ice every night. She is also deeply involved in the sound and lighting system.

WORLD ICE ARENA HANGZHOU ASST ICE RINK DIRECTOR

The Assistant Ice Rink Director for the Hangzhou Project is Alex Yeung. Former Ice Rink Manager of World Ice Arena Shenzhen and Skating School Manager of Cityplaza Ice Palace in Hong Kong. Alex is a graduate of Univ of California at Berkely and obtained his degree in architecture. He is married (Tina) with an infant daughter, Kasey.

Alex is an avid snowboarder and hits the slopes whenever possible. He has learned most of his ice rink knowledge since joining Ted at Cityplaza in 1988 and later in Shenzhen in 2004.

Alex is involved in all aspects of setting up the rink and coordination of all the elements to insure that everything happens at just the right time.

PROJECT DIRECTOR TED WILSON

The new World Ice Arena Hangzhou at the MIXC is under the project direction of Ted Wilson, former General Manager of World Ice Arena Shenzhen, Festival Walk Glacier (HK), Cityplaza (HK) and Galleria Ice Theatre (Hyatt Regency Dubai).

Ted produced major ice shows at the Gallerica Ice Theatre in Dubai from 1980 to 1987 with Olympic and World Champion stars as Richard Dwyer, Jojo Starbuck, David Santee, John Curry, Shelly Green, Gerty Verbiwski, Karen Kresge, Jimmy Santee, Lori Nichol, Tim Murphy, Nathan Birch to name a few. Ted is the founder of ISIAsia and was it's president for 4 years. He also sat on the ISI (USA) Board for 15 years.

Like Alex, Ted is involved in all aspects of putting the rink together. He has been involved in setting up more than 10 rinks around the world including the one in Shenzhen which opened in 2005 and both Cityplaza and Festival Walk in Hong Kong. He also installed the rink at Aberdeen Marina Club in Hong Kong, Future Bright rink in Macau as well as rinks in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and the Hyatt Regency in Dubai.

OVERVIEW OF THE COMPLEX (Click photo to enlarge)

The shopping mall is surrounded by 3 luxury residential towers, a 5 star Park Hyatt Hotel, and office building. There will be and underground connection to the two Metro lines. The rink is located under the larger roof on the right side of this picture. Skylights above the ice will allow filtered light during daytime. The entire complex will open about March 2010 and is located just 2 blocks from the new Grand Theatre.

OFF-ICE AREA OF THE RINK (Click photo to enlarge)

This image shows the skate rental counter (left) with benches for changing. Above the rental counter are the rink's management offices. In the distance are lockers and rink cafe.

It's here you will measured for your skates. Shoes and personal belongings will go into free-to-use lockers (1rmb coin needed but will be refunded when locker is opened).

ICE RINK CAFE (Click photo to enlarge)

For the comfort of both skaters and non skaters, a comfortable ice-side cafe will be there for hot and cold drinks, ice creams and other snacks. We expect to have free wifi in this area as well.

VIEW FROM THE ICE (Click photo to enlarge)

From the ice, your view here shows the main changing area. The large LCD video screen sits directly above our music and lighting control booth. The off ice area is where you will find a large dance studio with ballet bars, mirrored walls and sound system. The changing area has 680 lockers including some for long term rental; a cafe area with tables and chairs; large spacious restrooms and even a refrigeration plant which can be seen behind a long glass wall.

We will have a high definition internet camera located above the rink broadcasting live 24 hours a day onto our website once the rink opens. Website address will be www.worldicearenahz.com

FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE RINK (Click photo to enlarge)

Also designed by MOK Design in Hong Kong, the front entrance is a combination of marble, glass and mood lighting. The box office (at right) will sell IC Card tickets will admit you into the rink and serve to get your rental skates if needed. Lockers are free but need 1-rmb coin to use (returned after you open locker).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING SAFETY AND LIABILITY:

You should read and accept the provisions for entry including acceptance of the liability notice for any accident that might occur due to negligence by the ticket purchaser (parents are responsible for children under 13 years of age). Skating, like most recreational sports, has an element of risk due to misadventure by the skater or that of another on the rink. While we will employ a large number of on-ice traffic monitors and to skate-checks before you go onto the ice, a fall resulting in injury can still occur.

We strongly advise all non-skaters to seriously consider joining our classes rather than going onto the ice for the first time. Lessons are inexpensive and provide the knowledge of skating but also how to avoid serious injury.

Children under 1.5m tall must wear gloves and padding at all times until their skill level allows for confident level of skating.

Older men and women are especially at risk of broken bones in falls and are not advised to do this activity without taking this into account. Some persons wishing to skate might need to sign a declaration of acceptance of risks before being allowed to skate and this determination will be made by our management at the time of ticket purchase.