滑冰(huá bīng) - to ice skate in Mandarin

滑冰 (huá bīng) means to ice skate, from 滑 (huá, to slide, slippery) and 冰 (bīng, ice), literally "to slide on ice". It is a stock winter and Olympic-season vocabulary item, the kind of hobby word that turns up whenever a GCSE speaking task asks what you do in your free time.

Like other sport compounds, 滑冰 (huá bīng) splits around 得 (de) to add detail: 她滑冰滑得很好 (tā huá bīng huá dé hěn hǎo), "she skates very well", repeats 滑 (huá) rather than placing the description after the whole two-character phrase.

Don't confuse 滑冰 (huá bīng), ice skating, with 滑雪 (huá xuě), skiing. Both start with 滑 (huá), "to slide", but the second half tells you what you're sliding on: 冰 (bīng), ice, versus 雪 (xuě), snow.