A closed mill in Beijing no longer makes steel but it has purpose in the Olympics

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A closed mill in Beijing no longer makes steel but it has purpose in the Olympics

Transcript¹

A once sprawling² steel and iron mill will form the backdrop for some of the events during the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics. And parts of the complex have been converted to snow making facilities.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The landscape of Beijing was once dominated by a sprawling steel and iron mill. The capital city of China decided³ to shut that down about a decade ago, except they did not tear it down. And as our great correspondent NPR's Emily Feng reports, you might see it during February's Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

EMILY FENG, BYLINE⁴: Picture this - a pre-2000s Beijing with an entire district dedicated⁵ to Shougang, or Capital Steelworks, its smelting⁶ furnaces emerging through the industrial smog like a steampunk vision.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE SOUNDING)

FENG: This is archival and simulated sounds of the mill assembled by artist Sang Erhao, whose parents were second-generation Shougang workers.

Edward Steinfeld, a dean at Brown University, conducted political science research at Shougang in the 1980s and remembers it well.

EDWARD STEINFELD: Its physical plant was huge. When you entered this thing, you'd see, of course, all the smelting operations and the furnaces.

FENG: He remembers feeling overwhelmed by the chaos⁷ of the mill - pipes gushing⁸ steam, the crashing and banging of the steel rolling factory - sounds recreated here by Sang Erhao.

(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY⁹ CLANGING)

STEINFELD: When the shift changes would happen, you'd see armies of thousands of thousands of workers in their - you know, in their silvers, their heat-resistant clothing, going back and forth¹⁰.

FENG: Shougang's equipment had been directly taken from an old Belgian steel mill. Shougang had its own steam-powered railway system to move coal and ore. As a 20-year-old, Liu Guiyun operated factory cranes, lifting huge buckets of molten alloys¹¹.

LIU GUIYAN: (Through interpreter) The work environment was very bad. In the summer, the entire building would get so hot, you could burn yourself on the railings.

FENG: But she was proud to do the job. She was one of the select engineering talents who tested into an elite¹² state job. You might not think it now, but the polluting, loud Shougang mill was a source of pride for China's ruling Communist Party. And Steinfeld, the Brown professor, says many cities then plopped chemical plants or iron mills right in the middle of residential¹³ areas.

STEINFELD: Steel became not just an important industry for China, but it became a symbol in a way, an embodiment of socialist¹⁴ command planning. But it was also an embodiment of modernity.

FENG: But as China's state-planned economy gave way to a more liberal one, Shougang kept losing money. In 2010, Shougang officially closed in Beijing. The pollution and noise were just too much. Beijing had a choice - demolish¹⁵ or clean up and renovate¹⁶ the old mill. They chose the latter.

The massive concrete silos where workers once stored metal ores and coal are now sleek¹⁷ office spaces, and other parts have been converted into snow-making facilities. It has freestyle snowboard facilities and a giant ski jump for the Winter Games in February, though the facilities have yet to be used in competition and we could not see them because of Beijing's strict COVID protocols¹⁸ surrounding the Olympics.

YANG SI: (Non-English language spoken).

FENG: Shougang is a cultural symbol, says Yang Si, the curator of Re Guoji, a new museum space in Shougang's former Silo No. 4.

YANG: (Through interpreter) People were born in Shougang's hospitals, attended its schools. And after graduation, they came to work at Shougang. That's why its workers feel such a strong connection to the place.

FENG: Liu Guiyan, the former crane operator, also has a second career working in the museum at the mill where she once worked and lived. The place is still full of memories for her. She met her husband here, and its dormitories are where she raised her children.

LIU: (Through interpreter) I feel it's quite honorable my old workplace is now an Olympic tourist destination.

FENG: Tourists today can buy Shougang soda¹⁹, the orange-flavored pop the factory once gave away in liters to rehydrate overheated steel workers.

LIU: (Through interpreter) It tastes exactly the same. The Shougang flavor really has not changed.

FENG: From the museum, a visitor can follow the remains²⁰ of an old elevated railroad track to Shougang's Blast Furnace No. 3. The area is now a Starbucks and a brew²¹ pub, where most of the food and bev (ph) are named after gang, or steel.

I'm going to have a cheeseburger, and I think the Ingot IPA.

AOWEN CAO, BYLINE: I really want to have guang chuar (ph) (laughter) and the Guangpi (ph).

FENG: That's NPR's Beijing producer, Aowen Cao. Together, we tuck into our dinner while gazing out at Shougang's retired²² smokestacks and a swoop²³ of the mill's ski jump, from which some of the top athletes in the world will be jumping off soon.

Emily Feng, NPR News, Beijing.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 smelting   

n.熔炼v.熔炼，提炼（矿石）( smelt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a method of smelting iron 一种炼铁方法
• Fire provided a means of smelting ores. 火提供了熔炼矿石的手段。 来自辞典例句

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 alloys   

n.合金( alloy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This is essentially a development of thoria dispersion strengthened nickel alloys. 这基本上是用二氧化钍弥散强度化的镍基合金。 来自辞典例句
• The lack of deep hardening in these alloys negates their use. 这些合金缺乏深层硬化能力使它们无法利用。 来自辞典例句

12 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

13 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

14 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

15 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

16 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

17 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

18 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

19 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。

22 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

23 swoop   

n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击

参考例句：

• The plane made a swoop over the city.那架飞机突然向这座城市猛降下来。
• We decided to swoop down upon the enemy there.我们决定突袭驻在那里的敌人。