IN ancient times, Chengdu was famous for its magnificent landscape and rich culture, and has long been a hub of exchanges, connecting China to the rest of the world. Now the host city of the 31st FISU World University Games is still spreading seeds of cultural exchanges among the young people.

Amid the fierce competition of the Games that ended yesterday, student-athletes toured the city to experience the leisure and the ancient charm and vitality of the capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Eduard Zdenovec of the Czech Technical University in Prague, who had just finished competing in the judo competition, was impressed by the variety of traditional Chinese cultural experiences, such as shuttlecock kicking, and Touhu (arrow throwing), at the Wangjianglou Park.

“Chengdu is a very beautiful city, and all the people here are very warm,” Zdenovec said.

To make guests from around the world feel the unique charm of local culture, the Executive Committee of the Chengdu Universiade connected 16 key cultural exchange activities into 11 urban cultural sightseeing experience routes.

At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, college athletes from Colombia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries took out their mobile phones to take photos and videos of the giant pandas, and some couldn’t help but make video calls with their families to share the “moving” pandas they saw.

“It’s so cute! I never thought I could see a real panda. I really want to hug it,” said Ana Maria Zapata, a Colombian women’s volleyball player. She and her teammates were fascinated by giant pandas even before they came to China.

Since the launch of the cultural tourism activities July 29, thousands have signed up to participate.

Kanykei Kubanychbekova, a shooting player from Kyrgyzstan, said that a walk on the streets of Chengdu made her realize that China is a country where history and modernity blend.

Meanwhile, the Universiade venues will be used for sports and public fitness after the FISU Games, according to Cao Xuefeng, deputy director of the office of the Executive Committee of the Chengdu Games.

The venues are the most obvious sports legacy left to Chengdu. The city had 49 designated venues for the events, 13 of which were newly built, while the rest were renovated.

In the short term, Chengdu will focus on opening venues to benefit its residents and to meet their growing needs for sports and fitness to improve their health, Cao said.

In the medium and long term, the Sichuan capital will explore ways to market the venues and strive to ensure sustainable, comprehensive utilization of the larger ones as it looks to build itself into a sporting events hub and promote fitness among the public, Cao said.

The Chengdu Games, which started July 28 and ended yesterday, was postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chengdu is the third Chinese mainland city to host the biennial Summer University Games, following Beijing in 2001 and Shenzhen in 2011.

(Xinhua, China Daily)