With the slogan Chengdu Makes Dreams Come True, the 31st International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Games Summer, or the Summer Universiade, which was postponed twice due to COVID-19 concerns, took place from July 28 to August 8 in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.
“We should bring together young people from around the world to promote world peace and development with the power of youth. While the key to state-to-state relations lies in close bonds between peoples, efforts to this end must start from the youth,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said on July 28 while hosting a banquet to welcome guests attending the opening ceremony of the FISU Games. “The younger generations, motivated by ideals and responsibilities, are the future of humankind as well as the hope of the lofty pursuit of peace and development,” Xi continued.
“China will work with FISU and all participating delegations to make the Chengdu Games a grand sports event that will present the charms of China, the vibe of our times and the beauty of youth, and facilitate mutual understanding among young people from around the world, so as to provide new impetus for the progress of humanity,” he added.
“We may have a global society now, but the moments when you can live together with so many young people from so many different countries [and regions], even for a short time, are deeply special,” Leonz Eder, Acting President of the FISU, said during the opening ceremony. “Together, we have created a Games worth waiting for.”
A meeting of youth
Held every two years in a different city around the world, the FISU World University Games summer and winter editions are the largest global sports events held for student athletes.
Since the inaugural Summer Games in 1959 in Turin, Italy, and Winter Games in 1960 in Chamonix, France, the Universiade has seen 31 summer and 31 winter editions. The most recent summer event was held in 2019 in Naples, Italy, and the Lake Placid Games in the United States in January 2023 was the most recent winter event.
The highest number of participants was registered at the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade, with 11,759 athletes representing 159 countries and regions. This year, 6,500 student athletes from 113 countries and regions competed in 269 events across 18 sports.
China’s delegation to the Chengdu Universiade comprised over 700 members, including 411 athletes from over 100 universities across the country, who competed in all disciplines at the Games. The average age of the athletes was 22.9.
FISU sports events are open to all student athletes that have not been out of university or an equivalent institution for more than a year, and who are between the ages of 17 and 25.
However, to minimize the impact of the pandemic and guarantee the participation of students, some rules were relaxed in Chengdu this year. FISU raised the maximum age of participants from 25 to 27. It also allowed for the participation of students who graduated in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The Summer University Games includes 15 compulsory sports: archery, artistic gymnastics, athletics, badminton, basketball, diving, fencing, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball and water polo.
The Winter University Games includes nine compulsory sports: Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle & freeski, ice hockey, short track speed skating and snowboarding.
Chengdu is the third city in the Chinese mainland to host the biennial Summer Universiade, following Beijing in 2001 and Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, in 2011.
Wushu style
On July 29, Cao Maoyuan, one of the eight martial arts athletes from Team China, grabbed the first gold medal of the Chengdu Universiade in the men’s nanquan event in the wushu tournament. Nanquan, or “southern fist,” refers to wushu styles that originated in south China during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Lau Chi Lung of Hong Kong, China, claimed silver, while Shahin Banitalebi of Iran came in third.
Wushu, often known internationally as kungfu, was one of the three optional sports chosen by China as the host country of this year’s University Games. The two other optional sports included in the Chengdu Games were rowing and shooting.
“Wushu refreshes me and gives me energy every single day,” Cao said. Born in 1997, Cao fell in love with martial arts when he was a child. It all began with watching kungfu films. After finding that Cao would mimic the actors and play with sticks, his mother Tang Rong sent him to a sports primary school for professional wushu coaching.
“He loves wushu so much that he even thinks about the movements and skills when having dinner,” Tang said. Cao has now pursued his passion for some two decades.
As a traditional sport in China, wushu enjoys wide popularity. Not only the young, but also senior citizens are frequently seen in parks in the morning practicing wushu to maintain their health and agility. Now, wushu is also embracing the world. Currently, the International Wushu Federation has 158 national and regional members across five continents. Wushu has also been included in many international sports events.
“I love Jackie Chan and Jet Li,” Ukrainian wushu athlete Oleksii Kolisnyk, who has been practicing wushu for 15 years, said. “I’ve watched a lot of their movies.”
“Tai chi brings me closer to Chinese traditional culture, and I am looking forward to demonstrating my passion for wushu, exchanging skills and building friendships,” Judy Liu, a Chinese American student athlete from Stanford University, said.
“Martial arts are not a strength of the U.S. team, but as long as we give the young athletes the opportunity to showcase themselves in international competitions, it is great,” Zou Yunjian, a martial arts coach with the U.S. delegation, said, adding that the Games had great significance for the development and promotion of martial arts in the U.S.
Encounter and exchanges
“Amazing” and “impressive” were words frequently used by international athletes and other participants when talking about the event.
“My stay at the FISU Games has been really impressive. The reception by the staff is very welcoming. You can feel that hospitality whether it be in the venue or in the food [that is served]. Everyone has been very friendly to us,” 24-year-old Thai student Kamonlak Waenpet, one of the 31 torchbearers who jointly lit the cauldron during the opening ceremony, told Xinhua News Agency.
“People I have met in China are always trying to help and to communicate with me in my language,” Diacounda Sene, a journalist from Senegal, said, commending the warm welcome the Chinese people have extended to visitors from around the world. Jimmy Ye, President of the Singapore Universities Sports Council, hailed the event as a bridge bringing together youths from diverse backgrounds.
“Our aim should always be the common values that we, as human beings, share—friendship, love, kindness, appreciation. Young people from different backgrounds should be encouraged to hold onto that and to try and understand each other,” he said. “Our real goal here is to get to know people from all over the world, especially people in China. We want to understand more about your culture.”
Ye’s expectations for the Games were well met. The Athlete’s Village offered a variety of immersive activities for international visitors to learn more about China, especially Sichuan, and traditional Chinese culture. Visitors had the opportunity to try their hand at Chinese calligraphy, dress up in traditional Chinese clothing and make paper cuttings and Chinese knotting, both decorative handicrafts symbolizing good luck and prosperity.
Chengdu, known as the home of giant pandas, offered a series of sports and cultural activities related to the bears. According to the country’s fourth giant panda survey, released in 2015, Sichuan had more than 1,380 wild pandas, accounting for over 74 percent of the country’s total. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, located in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, has the largest artificial breeding population of giant pandas in the world and houses more than 230 giant pandas, including the prototype of the Games mascot Rongbao.
Rongbao’s facial features are depicted in a style that resembles the make-up used in Sichuan’s traditional opera. Its ears, black eye patches and tail are all shaped like flames.
During their stay in Chengdu, international athletes and other visitors also enjoyed Sichuan Opera performances, one of the most well-known traditional folk opera styles in China, which includes fire-breathing and bianlian, or face changing, a traditional Sichuanese performing art that involves performers switching between multiple masks with imperceptible movements.
Another form of Sichuan culture that attracted international visitors was food, or to be more specific, hotpot, and the lesser known but equally tasty local specialty chuanchuan, vegetables and meat skewered on sticks and then cooked in boiling oil and broth inside a clay or iron pot. On Chinese social media platforms like Douyin, China’s TikTok, many netizens in Chengdu posted their unexpected encounters with visitors from other parts of the world.
“I thought they would go to more fancy shopping malls or restaurants, but instead I met them at a small chuanchuan fly restaurant I always go to,” a post said with a video of a visitor wearing an official Chengdu FISU ID card playing drinking games with locals while eating chuanchuan. The term “fly restaurant” is often used to describe eateries serving up outstanding food for cheap prices in a subpar atmosphere. “What an interesting encounter.”
“Civilizations take different forms, making the world colorful and diverse. Young people are full of vitality. They can and should be able to view diversity from an equal, inclusive and friendly perspective, and see different cultures with an attitude of mutual appreciation and mutual learning,” President Xi said on July 28. –The Daily Mail-Beijing Review news exchange item
