Jan.30 - "I want be one of them" nine-year-old Kwan Xinru once told her father, in her candy-sweet voice "...because the skirts worn by these sisters are so beautiful."

 

The Macau delegation raised the flag of their Special Administration Region in Changchun, northeast of China's Jilin province last Saturday. And what they brought was not only their first participation in the Winter Asian Games, but also the games' youngest competitor: Kwan Xinru.

 

Standing besides her father, the pretty girl with big eyes answered questions in her awkward mandarin with some Cantonese after the flag-raising ceremony.

 

Living besides the ice-rink in Macau, it made sense for her father to take Kwan Xinru to watch skating matches. Kwan gradually became interested in figure skating and asked to learn it. She began to accept professional training when she was six.

 

For such a little girl, the necessary training is tough. But Kwan said she did not fear the cold, nor the painstaking training necessary. For someday, she would be a world champion.

 

This little girl's efforts have already won her No.1 titles in many of the amateur competitions held in Hong Kong and Shenzhen last year.

 

Li Liping, a national figure skating champion in the 1980s, is Kwan's coach. She said that Kwan is a very smart kid. She also said that what has impressed her most is Kwan's enthusiasm for the sport.

 

Soon, Kwan Xinru will stand as the youngest competitor at the 6th Winter Asian Games.