China has longed (渴望) for a snooker world champion. For a long while, Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui, the country’s top snooker star, was its brightest hope. 【小题1】

The latest hope now looks to be Zhao Xintong. On December 6, the 24-year-old won the UK Championship. It’s one of the world’s most important snooker competitions.

For snooker fans, Zhao is not a new name. 【小题2】 As a wildcard (外卡选手), he defeated world champion Ken Doherty at the International Championship. While some thought he won by pure luck, one year later, the boy proved his talent once again. At the 2013 International Championship, he beat six-time world champion Steve Davis. Davis said at the time, “This boy is better than anybody I have ever seen at that age.”

【小题3】 He has only made one appearance at the World Championship (in 2019). Sadly, he lost in the first round. Now, by winning the UK Championship, the young man is finally one step closer to his dream. “It was the biggest match for me, and it was my first time, so I tried my best because it was Luca. I feel very, very happy now. I am very excited, ” Zhao told reporters after the much-anticipated final, which for the first time sees two players ranked outside the top 16 go head to head. “The UK Championship is a snooker theater of dreams.” People believe he will go from strength to strength.

The future is bright as Zhao comes of age. 【小题4】 Let’s all wait for some more good news from him!

What’s the most popular Winter Olympics design(设计) with kids and teenagers (青少年)? It must be the mascot (吉祥物). Bing DwenDwen, a panda in an ice shell (壳), was chosen as the official mascot for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games in 2019.

“The International Olympic Committe (TOC) found that successful mascots had to be cute and liked by 9-year-old children,” said Cao Xue, the chief designer(首席设计师) of Bing DwenDwen. “And I know Bing DwenDwen would be.” Cao’s team once made three designs and he asked his 9-year-old son to choose his favorite. “At his first glance (一瞥), he chose Bing DwenDwen, which was the final mascot,” Cao noted.

According to Cao, Bing DwenDwen was chosen from 5, 816 designs from 38 countries and areas. The idea first came from a traditional Chinese snack(小吃) bingtanghulu—fruit coated in syrup(糖浆), which turned into the ice shell in his design. Cao’s team tried many plants and animals, finally going with a panda. “What can better stand for China than our national treasure (国宝)?” said Cao. “We don’t need to explain anything to have it understood across different cultures.”

However, there were already too many cartoon images (形象) of pandas out there, so the mascot needed to be different. Cao first decided that it should be a baby panda instead of an adult(成年人) one. This is how they got Bing DwenDwen’s body shape. Cao’s team then collected all the panda designs they could find across the world to avoid similarities. They even visited the panda nature reserve(自然保护区) in Wolong, Sichuan, to look for inspiration (灵感).

“When we finally got Bing DwenDwen, our whole team was over the moon,” said Cao. “Now I’m so glad that it wins the favor(喜爱) of people all over the world.”

The 9th Asian Winter Games’ coming is creating a boom in participation in snow and ice sports in China. Do you want to know some information about the ice and snow sports in China? The following can help you.

Host city: Harbin Time: 2/7/2025—2/14/2025 Slogan (口号): Dream of Winter, Love among Asia Mascot (吉祥物):	A survey China Youth Daily surveyed 1, 212 people about what they did in the winter of 2022 and got the following information. ① Cheering for players at the Beijing Winter Games ② Trying out skiing or skating ③ Buying winter sports clothes and tools ④ Taking winter sports trips around China ⑤ Taking part in winter sports training
◆346 million people across the country take part in winter sports in 2023 ◆46 million of them are under 18
Some Important Years in the Winter Sports History of China 1953: China’s first National Ice Sports Games took place in Harbin. 1957: China’s first National Ski Games were held in Tonghua, Jilin. 2002: China won its first gold medal in the Winter Olympics. 2022: China held the Winter Olympics in Beijing and Zhangjiakou for the first time and won 9 gold medals.