Yabuli, China, February 5, 2025: Fireman Liu had travelled 2,000 kilometres from Jiangsu Province to Harbin to try his hand for the first time at skiing as well as watch China’s Olympic freestyle skiing champion Gu Ailing (Eileen Gu) in action at the 9th Asian Winter Games.
“China is celebrating the Spring Festival and we decided this would be an ideal opportunity to visit the biggest ski resort in Asia as well as try and watch Gu Ailing in action. But, unfortunately, that will not be possible, so I will do my best on the slopes in Yabuli,” Liu said, with the help of a volunteer interpreter.
Liu and his family – wife Wang and son Stone – were part of the large crowd on the new express bullet train service from Harbin to Yabuli on Wednesday, February 5. The 200-kilometre trip took less than an hour.
“We knew the Asian Winter Games was happening, and planned our visit to coincide with this event. Being a budding skier, I wanted to watch Gu compete. She has brought so much glory to our country at the Olympics, and all of China is proud of her,” Liu said.
Earlier this week, Gu Ailing, also known as Eileen Gu, announced on social media that she was withdrawing from the 9th AWG Harbin 2025 due to an injury sustained at the X Games Aspen last month – she fell during the street style competition.
“After getting injured at the X Games Aspen, I unfortunately sustained another injury during training. I had to withdraw from the highly-anticipated Asian Winter Games Harbin with a heavy heart,” Gu was quoted by Xinhua News Agency.
At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Gu won gold medals in big air and halfpipe in freestyle skiing and a silver in slopestyle.
“Everyone knows her. I regret that she can’t take part in Yabuli,” noted Liu.