STORY: Sunny's journey exploring Chengdu Universiade venues
DATELINE: July 26, 2023
LENGTH: 00:05:58
LOCATION: CHENGDU, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/SPORTS
 
SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP 1 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
2. STANDUP 2 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
3. STANDUP 3 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HUANG HAIAN, Deputy director, Gymnastics Stadium at Dong'an Lake Sports Park
5. STANDUP 4 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
6. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): BAI XUE, Deputy executive director, Dong'an Lake Sports Park Aquatics Center
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LUO XINGXING, Dong'an Lake Sports Park Artistic Gymnastics Venue Operations Center
8. STANDUP 5 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
9. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): PENG RUI, Head of section for photographers, Main Media Center, organizing committee
 
STORYLINE:
 
STANDUP 1 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"The 31st FISU World University Games will be hosted by China's Chengdu later this month.
This is Sunny Zhou with Xinhua, and I've just travelled over 1,000 miles from Beijing to this 'land of abundance' to experience how the vibrant city is opening to the sports extravaganza! Let's go!"
 
Sunny's journey exploring Chengdu Universiade venues
 
Chengdu, Sichuan Province
 
The Chengdu Universiade is to be held from July 28 to August 8, and a total of 49 venues will be used for training and competitions during the games, comprising a combination of newly constructed facilities and renovated existing ones. 
 
I have visited several venues to see how they made preparations for the coming Chengdu Universiade.
 
STANDUP 2 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"This is Dong'an Lake Sports Park, a new landmark in the east of Chengdu. The main venues of the Chengdu Universiade are located here."
 
The Dong'an Lake Sports Park features a large outdoor stadium and three enclosed gymnasiums. The opening ceremony of the Chengdu Universiade is to be held at the silver frisbee-shaped stadium.
 
Its dome is decorated with more than 12,000 pieces of colorful glazed glass, depicting the pattern of the Sun and Immortal Birds, which represents the combination of historical symbol and futuristic structure.
 
STANDUP 3 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"This is the venue for artistic gymnastics events during the Universiade. The multi-purpose gymnasium is the biggest among the three venues lying next to the main stadium. It can cater to various purposes. For instance, it can change from an ice rink to a basketball court within 6 hours."
 
The 18,000 seats multi-purpose gymnasium can also hold basketball, ice hockey games, and even concerts after the Universiade. The gymnasium also adopted other sustainable designs, which fully implement the green concept of the Universiade. 
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HUANG HAIAN, Deputy director, Gymnastics Stadium at Dong'an Lake Sports Park
"We used a lot of energy-saving and eco-friendly materials during the construction. The air conditioning is off now, and the fresh-air system is on. The temperature inside the stadium is 2-3 degrees lower than the outside, so there is no need to turn on the air conditioning. When there are few people in this stadium, the power-saving system will automatically turn off some lights and cut the power of some equipment."
 
Next to the gymnasium is the aquatics center, which will serve as a competition, warm-up, and training venue for swimming events during the Chengdu Universiade.
 
STANDUP 4 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"This is a top-level swimming pool meeting the standards of Olympic Games. I've learned that it's equipped with a very smart system to ensure the quality of the pool water."
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): BAI XUE, Deputy executive director, Dong'an Lake Sports Park Aquatics Center
"The center uses a fresh air circulation system instead of air conditioning. The water temperature is kept between 26 and 28 degrees Celsius to ensure athletes can perform at their best. Meanwhile, the indoor temperature is maintained between 28 and 30 degrees."
 
Apart from many eco-friendly designs inside the gymnasiums, the sports park also runs a rainwater harvesting facility that will fully recycle the rainwater to irrigate the entire park's green areas. 
 
SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): LUO XINGXING, Dong'an Lake Sports Park Artistic Gymnastics Venue Operations Center
"This is a control room for the rainwater harvesting system. Inside the room, there are two booster pumps that draw rainwater from outside and the water will be put into the storage tank. The collection capacity of our storage tank is about 30 cubic meters. All the water will be used for irrigation for the green areas in the park."
 
Across the Dong'an Lake is the Main Media Center of the Chengdu Universiade.
 
STANDUP 5 (English): SUNNY ZHOU, Xinhua correspondent
"Bamboo slip, embroidery, and various traditional specialties, these are what you can see at the Main Media Center of the Universiade."
 
The Main Media Center offers a series of traditional Chinese cultural activities and performances, such as Chinese Kungfu, Shu embroidery, sugar painting, and much more. It comprises the Main Press Center (MPC) and the International Broadcasting Center.
 
SOUNDBITE 4 (English): PENG RUI, Head of section for photographers, Main Media Center, organizing committee
"This is the media workroom, which is located on the ground floor of the MPC. We have a total of 340 seats here, and there are 42 wall-mounted TV sets and two large LED screens measuring 15 square meters each, on which the journalists can watch the live streaming of the events."
 
In addition to providing a convenient working environment, the media center also has a restaurant that serves a wide range of dishes that can satisfy the taste buds of people from all over the world, featuring the unique Sichuan cuisine known for its spicy and flavorful dishes.
 
The city of Chengdu has embraced the idea of energy-saving and low-carbon to ensure an environmentally friendly Summer Universiade. A total of 36 existing gymnasiums and stadiums in the city have been renovated and converted into game venues.
 
Green construction materials have been used, and energy-saving LED lights have replaced conventional illuminations at all game venues. 
 
As Chengdu has lit up to welcome delegations from around the world, we hope they could achieve even better results at this Summer Universiade.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Chengdu, China.
(XHTV)