比利时，全世界最高水平培育信鸽以及赛鸽比赛的国家，也是赛鸽运动的发源地。为了获得一羽正宗的比利时赛鸽，许多中国鸽迷不远万里，飞到比利时朝圣。

   Belgium, the country where pigeon breeding and racing takes place at the highest level, is also the birthplace of pigeon racing. Some Chinese pigeon fanciers travel all the way to Belgium on a pilgrimage to obtain an authentic Belgian pigeon.
住在比利时列日的乔治·华普利（1884～1971）是比利时著名的养鸽家之一
Georges Fabry (1884-1971), from Liège, was one of the most famous pigeon breeders in Belgium.

华普利先生在上世纪初培育的三羽著名赛鸽“千里驹”、“达克斯号”和“雨点”

Fabry bred three famous pigeons at the beginning of the last century: “L’étalon” (The Stallion), “Le Dax” and “Le Beau Bariolé” (The Colourful Stud)

 

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赛鸽起源于比利时

Belgium, the birthplace of pigeon racing

   1810年，在比利时南部列日省Verviers（韦尔韦耶）那时候的赛鸽爱好者们把他们培养的信鸽聚在一起，进行了一场角逐，而这就是赛鸽比赛的由来。韦尔韦耶市也因此被称为比利时赛鸽的发源地。
自此全世界每年的信鸽比赛有数万场，在中国每年全国各地举办的各类比赛多达两万余场。信鸽比赛的类别大体可分为三种：一，飞行距离 短（100～400km）、中（400～600km）、长距离（600～800km）和马拉松（800km以上）等不同的级别；二，按年龄区分 幼鸽（出生当年）、成鸽赛；三，按比赛形式区分 公棚（幼鸽从小集中在一个统一的大鸽舍饲养、训练、比赛）、寄养赛（不同地方的参赛者将自己培育的赛鸽寄养到同一地方的不同鸽舍共同比赛）等。
   黄剑先生认为最有名的赛事当属西欧的马拉松级别的巴塞罗那国际赛，这一赛事早在1906年就已经开始举行了，比利时国赛第一次大规模出征1000公里外的巴塞罗那，人们将1160羽赛鸽用马车运达西班牙塞罗那城里最高点山峰上进行放飞。千羽赛鸽在次日早上从巴塞罗那山顶起航，往终点的方向奋力前行，成千上万的巴塞罗那市民登山远望为赛鸽运动欢呼加油。而这场赛事除二战期间中断，一直坚持每年举行。近三十年来，每年都有超过万羽赛鸽参赛。参赛的鸽子最多的时候达到了33000羽。而巴塞罗那国际赛的冠军鸽身价早在二十年前就已经超过十万美元。
   In 1810, a few pigeon fanciers gathered up with their breeding pigeons in the city of Verviers to take part in a competition. This event was seen as the very first pigeon race, and Verviers was from then on known as the birthplace of the Belgian racing pigeon.
   Since the first pigeon race two centuries ago, the competitive scene has developed greatly: there are tens of thousands of pigeon races each year in the world, over twenty thousand of them exclusively in China. The categories of pigeon races can broadly be divided into three ways. First, according to flight distance: short (100-400km), medium (400-600km), long-distance (600-800km), and marathon (over 800km). Second, according to age: young pigeon racing (under a year old) and adult pigeon racing. Third, according to race type: one-loft races (young pigeons are trained in one unified loft), and futurity races (pigeons come from different places to be put in different lofts).
According to our pigeon expert Huang Jian, the most famous pigeon race in the world is the Barcelona International Race, a marathon race in Western Europe that has been held since 1906. That year, the Belgian National Pigeon race took new dimensions as it was run for the first time on a 1000 km length. 1160 pigeons were transported by coach to Barcelona, where they were released on a hill in the morning. The pigeons directly headed for the finished line, with thousands of Barcelonians cheering for them. 
The race has since then been held every year, with some interruptions during the Second World War. For the last thirty years, every event in the yearly series has seen more than ten thousand pigeons participate, with the highest number in a year being 33 000. Twenty years ago, the champion of Barcelona International was already worth more than 100 000 American dollars. 

1906年7月22日早晨巴塞罗那国际赛在西班牙巴塞罗那开笼
The first “Barcelona International” started in the early morning of 22 July 1906 in Barcelona, Spain. 

获得1906年巴塞罗那国际赛冠军的瓦萨特先生和他的冠军鸽Jules Vassart, winner of the first Barcelona International Pigeon Race in 1906, and his champion pigeon.

2007年7月7日早晨早晨巴塞罗那国际赛在巴塞罗那蒙锥克山开笼The start of the 2007 Barcelona International on 7 July at Montjuïc hill in Barcelona.

   从1997年1月开始至2019年中国信鸽协会副会长黄剑上百次的往返于比利时与中国，并前后为中国从欧洲各国引进了超过10000万只信鸽，而这些信鸽90%以上来自于比利时，他认为正是因为比利时悠久的信鸽培育历史，加上各种严禁的赛制，才培育出非常完整的种系体系。

   From January 1997 to 2019, Huang Jian has made hundreds of trips between Belgium and China and has introduced more than 10 million pigeons from European countries to China, more than 90% of which came from Belgium. He believes that Belgium’s long history of pigeon breeding combined with its racing system’s strict rules has led to the country’s development of a perfected breeding system.

黄剑引进的赛鸽专罗杰.富雷卡作育的波城国家赛冠军“塔布斯”The legendary pigeon “Tarbes” from the equally legendary breeder Roger Verreecke, won the National Pau race and was then imported to China by Huang Jian

信鸽飞行轨迹之迷

The mystery of the homing pigeon’s flight path

   那么，各种种系体系的信鸽又是如何辨别归家之路呢？最新的研究表示，瑞士科学家认为，鸽子的导航能力与地球的重力场有关。他们通过实验发现：鸽子利用对其鸽舍附近重力场的记忆来给自己指路。

   当然饲养者也会通过平时带鸽子外出到几十公里外进行训练，能让鸽子加强对家附近地形特征有所记忆，帮助鸽子运用视力确认家的具体位置。
随着高科技的定位技术的不断发展，3，4年前刚刚试行的一项工作，就是给每只信鸽戴上植入芯片的GPS追踪环，以此来观察鸽子的飞行轨迹。从而让更多感兴趣的朋友能够看到信鸽的飞行模式，速度，轨迹，让大家更加身临其境的参与到比赛过程中，也让更多的人投入到信鸽运动中来。
   So how do these pigeons from diverse breeds find their way home? According to recent research from Swiss scientists, the pigeon’s ability to navigate is linked to the Earth’s gravitational field. Scientists have discovered that pigeons use their memories of the gravitational field near their loft to find their way.
   Of course, the breeders will also take their pigeons out for training sessions several dozens of kilometers away, which will enhance their memory of the terrain around their home and help them recognize their home’s exact location by sight.
With the continuous development of high-end tracking technology, a pilot project was introduced 3-4 years ago to put a GPS tracking ring with an implanted chip on each pigeon in order to observe the pigeon’s flight path. This allows the pigeon aficionados to see their feathered friends’ flight patterns, speeds, and trajectory, making the race more immersive and getting more people involved in the competition.

信鸽的价值与中国信鸽运动的发展

The value of a pigeon and the development of the sport in China

   黄会长说，他从比利时引进了多羽优秀种鸽价格均超过5位数欧元，要育成一羽优秀赛鸽和种鸽是要付出许多的劳动和巨大的代价的，仅仅只有百分之十几的信鸽能完成所有比赛并存活到下一年继续比赛。在比利时要成为国家赛冠军的几率只有万分之一，而要成为国家鸽王冠军的几率更是只有十万分之一。而每年为了缔造这万分之一和十万分之一的精品，比利时的养鸽人要付出数以百万甚至千万计欧元的代价。

   近十年随着赛鸽运动在中国的快速发展，中国的赛鸽运动规模已经占据了世界赛鸽运动规模的一半，信鸽在中国已经正式开展为体育项目，在中国有40万的会员，上百万从业及参与者。在中国大陆各省、市自治区都有信鸽协会组织，在中国大陆每年举办的信鸽赛事多达20000余场，由信鸽产业每年所产出的产值达数十亿欧元，根据中国政府有关加快发展体育产业促进体育消费的政策，今后十年信鸽作为体育产业的一部分，还将会继续快速和较大规模的增长。而中国的鸽迷们更是将信鸽纳入自已的收藏之列中，犹如当代艺术品，顶级葡萄酒那般。
   2019年3月17日，在比利时西佛拉芒地区的一场信鸽网拍中，更是创下天价纪录。125.2万欧元的天价信鸽阿曼多（Armando）被神秘买家买走，而这个神秘的买家来自于中国。而一年多后，这一记录被另外一只比利时超级明星——“新金姆”号赛鸽打败，这只赛鸽被一位中国买家以160万欧元买走。

中国的国家赛放飞鸽子羽数也达到了10万羽
100,000 pigeons released for the China national pigeon race

（本文转载于 比利时大使馆 BelgiuminChina）