STORY: Passion in "city of extreme cold" | Ep. 1: Marathon runners from China's "Cold Pole"
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 5, 2024
DATELINE: Feb. 2, 2024
LENGTH: 00:05:40
LOCATION: HULUN BUIR, China
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): Members of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): Members of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
6. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
7. SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): BAI YUHANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (15 years old)
8. SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): YAN SHUYI, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (14 years old)
9. SOUNDBITE 8 (Chinese): YAN KEXIN, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (17 years old)
10. SOUNDBITE 9 (Chinese): LOU YUWEN, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (18 years old)
11. SOUNDBITE 10 (Chinese): CHEN CHUNYANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (19 years old)
12. various of Liu Siwei
13. SOUNDBITE 11 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
14. SOUNDBITE 12 (Chinese): WEI YANLI, Liu Siwei's wife
15. various of Genhe Amateur Sports School
16. SOUNDBITE 13 (Chinese): Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
17. SOUNDBITE 14 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
18. SOUNDBITE 15 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
19. SOUNDBITE 16 (Chinese): Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
20. SOUNDBITE 17 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
21. SOUNDBITE 18 (Chinese): Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
22. SOUNDBITE 19 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
23. SOUNDBITE 20 (Chinese): JIA MAI, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (19 years old)
24. various of the marathon team members training on the runway
25. SOUNDBITE 21 (Chinese): BAI YUHANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (15 years old)
26. various of Liu Siwei making a ski piste
27. SOUNDBITE 22 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
28. SOUNDBITE 23 (Chinese): CHEN CHUNYANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (19 years old)
29. various of the prizes in Liu Siwei's room
30. SOUNDBITE 24 (Chinese): YAN SHUYI, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (14 years old)
31. SOUNDBITE 25 (Chinese): LIANG YUNSONG, Former member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team, sophomore at Inner Mongolia Vocational College of Sports
32. SOUNDBITE 26 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
33. SOUNDBITE 27 (Chinese): China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"At ease. Attention. Eyes right.
It's the beginning of another beautiful day. We must train harder, don't you think?"

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): Members of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Yes."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Are you in a good mood?"

SOUNDBITE 4 (Chinese): Members of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Yes."

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"All right. Start running in the original formation. There you go."

SOUNDBITE 6 (Chinese): BAI YUHANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (15 years old)
"I feel cold and can hardly breathe."

SOUNDBITE 7 (Chinese): YAN SHUYI, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (14 years old)
"Though it's tiresome, I feel happy to challenge myself."

SOUNDBITE 8 (Chinese): YAN KEXIN, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (17 years old)
"We run together, eat together and have fun together. It just feels better than staying at home, lying around, or playing with our phones."

SOUNDBITE 9 (Chinese): LOU YUWEN, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (18 years old)
"Basically, almost all members of our team are quite capable."

SOUNDBITE 10 (Chinese): CHEN CHUNYANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (19 years old)
"My coach and I will definitely stand atop the podiums at national-level races."

Most of the team members are from less affluent families. Many are "left-behind" teenagers or from single-parent families. Liu Siwei has been training them to be marathon runners in Genhe City which is often referred to as China's "cold pole."

SOUNDBITE 11 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"I'm 47 years old this year, and I've been working at the sports school for 28 years. I like leading athletes in competitions. When the team members win gold medals, I feel a sense of achievement. At the beginning, our goal was to train and nurture these children, and help them leave our Genhe City, enter universities or join professional teams as their sports achievements improve."

SOUNDBITE 12 (Chinese): WEI YANLI, Liu Siwei's wife
"No matter how busy things are at home, we can't occupy his training time. He told me, "No matter how busy you are, it's best to schedule around my training sessions." He won't let anything interfere with the children's classes.
He goes out early and comes back late every day, not for his own interests, just to train these children. Others may say he's foolish.
I don't have a job. These years I've just been his assistant. There are girls in the team, and some children are not locals, so I do whatever I can for him for these children."

SOUNDBITE 13 (Chinese): Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Get up, everyone. Get up."

SOUNDBITE 14 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Our golden period for training is in winter, which lasts for about 90 days from Dec. 10 to March 1 of the following year. After Genhe starts getting cold in October, we gradually adapt to the temperature until Dec. 10, because in December, the temperature would drop below -40℃, and our athletes need to gradually adapt to the cold. After this period, though it's even colder around Jan. 10, the children won't feel the cold as much.
The cold weather here helps develop athletes' cardiopulmonary function better than other places. Also, enduring the intense cold becomes a test of their resilience, helping shape their character and willpower."

SOUNDBITE 15 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Is it milk?"

SOUNDBITE 16 (Chinese): Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Yes, milk."

SOUNDBITE 17 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Does it taste good?"

SOUNDBITE 18 (Chinese): Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"Delicious."

SOUNDBITE 19 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"We don't have very good running shoes. We don't have such well-balanced nutrition. But why do we still train?"

SOUNDBITE 20 (Chinese): JIA MAI, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (19 years old)
"I train to have the opportunity to leave the mountains and see what the world outside is like."

Due to insufficient funds and inadequate training facilities, Liu Siwei came up with the idea of building a runway paved with pine nut shells.

SOUNDBITE 21 (Chinese): BAI YUHANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (15 years old)
"I find running interesting. I don't need to care about what others think."

To enhance the athletes' physical capacity, Liu Siwei has arranged cross-country skiing training in winter.

He drove his car in laps while dragging a radiator behind to level the ground and transform the runway into a ski piste.

SOUNDBITE 22 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"To make the piste smooth enough for our athletes to ski on, I have to flatten and compact the snowfield."

SOUNDBITE 23 (Chinese): CHEN CHUNYANG, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (19 years old)
"After winning the competition, our coach won't take the prize money for himself, but he will bring the trophy to his own room and display it there with pride."

In the past decade, the team has won 5 championships in international marathons, 45 in national-level marathons and 120 in autonomous region-level races.

SOUNDBITE 24 (Chinese): YAN SHUYI, Member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team (14 years old)
"I want to join competitions abroad with our coach, and see the Chinese national flag flutter in the arenas in other countries."

SOUNDBITE 25 (Chinese): LIANG YUNSONG, Former member of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team, sophomore at Inner Mongolia Vocational College of Sports
"In the future, I want to become a coach like Mr. Liu, cultivating talents and bringing glory to our country."

SOUNDBITE 26 (Chinese): LIU SIWEI, President of Genhe Amateur Sports School, coach of China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"We don't compete with others based on equipment, but on spirit. It's our spirit that makes us invincible."

SOUNDBITE 27 (Chinese): China "Cold Pole" Marathon Team
"China 'Cold Pole' Marathon Team, Jia You (keep it up)!"

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hulun Buir, China.
(XHTV)