By Wu Yong, People’s Daily
Hasen, an 80-year-old woman of China’s Daur ethnic group, has learned how to use her smartphone to watch live sports events.
As the first Chinese national female field hockey coach, Hasen was filled with pride as she watched the Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2024 unfold in her hometown – Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner in north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
This event held a special significance for the Chinese men’s field hockey team, which fought all the way to a historic silver medal, marking the country’s best-ever performance in this competition. Seven players on the team hailed from Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner, a region steeped in hockey tradition.
With a population of over 300,000, Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner is known as the “hometown of field hockey in China”.. The people in the banner carried forward the traditional sporting heritage and made it popular in the whole region.
The journey into this remote banner winds through the southern Greater Khingan Mountains, where the indigenous oak trees stand tall and straight along the way. Drawing on local resources, the children here often create temporary hockey sticks from oak branches to play field hockey on open ground.
Field hockey became an Olympic sport at the 1908 London Games. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Chinese sports authorities sent an expert team to investigate the development of field hockey across the country.
When the experts arrived in Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the traditional sport of China’s Daur ethnic group, known as beikuo in the Daur language (which translates to “curved stick”), bears resemblance to field hockey in terms of equipment and competition rules.
This discovery sparked historic development: China’s first men’s field hockey team was founded in the banner in 1976, predominantly composed of players of the Daur ethnic group. Four years later, Hasen – now recognized as a Chinese national-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Daur traditional hockey – pioneered China’s first women’s field hockey team, and started coaching the trailblazing squad.
In 1989, the Chinese Hockey Association officially designated Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner as the “hometown of field hockey”. This prestigious title was further acknowledged in September 2024 when Tayyab Ikram, president of the International Hockey Federation, presented the banner with a commemorative plaque and album, recognizing it as a renowned hub for the sport of field hockey.
“Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner has a huge fan base for the sport, which makes field hockey widely popular here,” said Wang Tong, captain of the Chinese men’s field hockey team.
Over the past almost five decades, athletes from Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner have played a crucial role in the Chinese national field hockey team and made significant contributions to China’s field hockey competitions. For example, the Chinese women’s field hockey team won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games, and the Chinese men’s team secured a silver medal at the Asian Games and 11th place at the Olympics.
To date, Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner has nurtured over 500 athletes and coaches for various Chinese provincial teams, with over 200 athletes and more than 30 coaches being selected for the Chinese national field hockey training camp.
Integration of sports and education
On the sidelines of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2024, seven foreign referees visited the Secondary Vocational and Technical School of Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner, providing guidance for field hockey students.
After a training match, Ao Hanze, a second-year student who has spent four years in professional field hockey training, was dripping with sweat. When the referees commended his performance, the young boy was struck by a sense of shyness and excitement.
“The international hockey event held in my hometown has illuminated my goals,” said Ao. His dream is to become an outstanding professional field hockey athlete.
“With such excellent training facilities and much better conditions than before, I will redouble my efforts,” he noted.
The school introduced a field hockey program in 2015 and has so far nurtured numerous groups of athletes for Chinese professional teams. In 2025, it collaborated with other Chinese higher education institutions to enroll students with special talent in field hockey.
This collaboration aims to enable student-athletes to pursue vocational education while receiving professional sports training, which means they can advance their academic and athletic careers simultaneously.
In recent years, the banner has been exploring new ways of integrating sports and education to cultivate young talents. Every one of the 40 primary and secondary schools within the banner has launched field hockey courses, and 39 of them have created their own teams for the sport.
“Based on the vibrant hockey-playing environment, we have established a comprehensive educational system to nurture and train students of all educational institutions, from elementary schools to universities. Outstanding players have the opportunity to join Chinese professional teams right away. This approach can contribute to the sound and orderly development of field hockey in China,” said Liu Jinzhu, head of the education and sports bureau of Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner.
Photo shows teenagers playing field hockey on open ground in Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner, north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, in the 1980s. (Photo provided by the publicity office of Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner)
A Chinese field hockey player (left) competes at the Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2024, Morin Dawa Daur autonomous banner, north China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. (Photo by Wu Yong/People’s Daily)
