China Beijing Olympic Games

These drumsticks used by the Greek priestess during the Torch Lighting Ceremony are the latest additions to my collection.

My name is Zhao Xiaokai. I’m 46. I used to work in the organization department of Kaihua County, Zhejiang, in southeastern China. In 1993 I left my job and relocated to Beihai (in Guangxi province) to start a business. Ten years later I began collecting Olympic and sports memorabilia. By now I have collected more than 400 items. Looking back over the past five years, I am extremely proud of three things I’ve done: First, I’ve acquired three “Olympic treasures”; second, I organized a tree-planting activity this year in Olympia, Greece, where Chinese volunteers will plant 2,008 olive trees by the end of the year; and third, I’ve invited the Greek High Priestess from the Torch Lighting Ceremony for a visit to China, a project that I’m currently coordinating.

In the spring of 2003, when I was taking an elective course in cultural studies at Peking University, a lecture by collector Ma Weidu on traditional Chinese culture opened the door for me to collecting things and even taught me about China’s Olympic history.

Now, many people see me as the first Olympic collector in China. But in fact, I only did a little something for sports memorabilia collecting in China.

In terms of my fortunate connection with three “Olympic treasures” and the Beijing Olympic Games, I have Mr. Ma to thank.

I remember that shortly after the lecture, I came across an Internet posting by a collector named Zhao Hui, who had a collection of more than 200 sports memorabilia items that he hoped to sell to another avid collector because of financial difficulties. At the time, aside from keen interest in a part of his collection, I also felt a sense of social responsibility. Later, I met Mr. Zhao and we reached an agreement.

When it came time for me to pick up the items, Mr Zhao seemed unwilling to part with his beloved friends and kept telling me to take good care of them. In the five years that have since passed, I have collected more than 400 sports memorabilia items, half of which are rather rare. I love my three “Olympic treasures” best. They include a manuscript by athlete Liu Changchun, the first Chinese to ever take part in the Olympic Games (in 1932); the medicine chest of the Chinese delegation to the 1936 Olympic Games; and a pennant of the Chinese basketball team in the 1948 Olympic Games. Before Liberation, China only took part in these three Games, and as few people took part in them, few memorabilia items remain. To obtain memorabilia related to the Chinese delegations to these three editions of the Games is a dream for many Olympic collectors.

Of the three treasures the most precious one is the medicine chest, which I acquired first. Early in 2006, a reporter told me that a professor at Zhejiang University owned a medicine chest used by the Chinese delegation to the 1936 Olympic Games. The original owner of the chest, Shu Hong, passed away in the 1970s but the chest remained with his son, Shu Changrong. I soon contacted Mr. Shu and flew to Zhejiang to meet him. Mr. Shu was in his advanced years at the time, and I learned that Zhejiang University also hoped to acquire the medicine chest. But in the end, I got the chest. It was still in good condition and there were even 24 bottles of medicine in it.

Back in Beijing, the first time I showed the medicine chest to the public, someone offered 500,000 yuan for it. An IOC official also expressed interest in it and gave me an offer. But I declined both offers because the chest had immeasurable significance. It holds almost 100 years of China’s Olympic dreams.

It was purely accidental that I acquired the pennant of the Chinese delegation to the 1948 Olympic Games. Two years ago, I happened upon a pennant in a pile of trash at a disposal station. The pennant read ”Chinese delegation to the World Sports Games,” the former name of the Olympic Games. It was confirmed later that a local organization in Fujian province had presented the pennant to the Chinese basketball team on its way to Singapore, where the team played to raise money to cover their travel expenses to the 1948 Olympic Games. On the aged pennant “wei zai” (for the impoverished) had worn off. But “fight for the glory, plead for the common” were still barely visible. It is a living testimony to China’s tortuous Olympic journey.

As for the manuscript by athlete Liu Changchun, it was my perseverance that helped me acquire it. Two years ago, I had garnered some attention from the media and individuals because of my collections. Among the individuals was Mr. Gu Bingfu, curator of the China Sports Museum. One day, at an Olympic exhibition, Mr. Gu invited me to visit him at his home some time. He told me that he was touched by my energy and that he had something special to give me. And that’s how the manuscript became a part of my collection.

While my collection of old memorabilia is complete, memorabilia related to the Beijing Olympic Games are also very important. After all, it the first time our country will stage the Olympic Games.

Before the torch lighting ceremony, I had already set my sights on acquiring the first torch, the tool for lighting the flame and the costume worn by the High Priestess. When I arrived in Olympia, however, I discovered that everything related to the Olympic Games would be highly protected as artifacts. I abandoned my original goals, but I couldn’t let my self come back barehanded. So, after the torch lighting ceremony, I rushed to the side of one of the priestesses and explained my intentions to her. She was moved by my explanation and arranged to get me a set of drumsticks used in the ceremony.

Now, apart from collecting things, I have a major project in the works: I’m doing all that I can to bring Greek High Priestess Maria Nafpliotou to China for a visit. If all goes well, she will not only meet the people of Beijing in June, but she will also attend the opening ceremony on August 8. I think that would have very special significance for the Being Olympic Games.