People participate in an event to mark the 30-day countdown to the Chengdu World University Games in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, on June 28, 2023. Photo: VCG

There is only a month left before Chengdu, the capital city of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, hosts the 31st World University Games, the first time a world multi-sport event will be held in Southwest China.

To celebrate the one-month ­countdown, event organizers kicked off a torch relay in Sichuan on Wednesday. Sichuan-born Olympic gymnastics champion Feng Zhe started the torch relay in Yibin, a southern Sichuan city about 200 kilometers from Chengdu.

The World University Games are staged every two years in a different city. This celebration of international university sports and culture draws many thousands of student-athletes together to compete, making it one of the world's largest and most prestigious multi-sports events.

The Chengdu Universiade will be the third Summer Universiade held in the Chinese mainland, following the Beijing Universiade in 2001 and the Shenzhen Universiade in 2011. Taipei hosted the 2017 edition of the Universiade. 

The opening ceremony of the Chengdu Universiade will take place on July 28 at the main stadium of Dong'an Lake Sports Park. A total of 18 sports will be featured during the 12-day tournament that runs until August 8. 

The Chengdu Universiade was originally scheduled to be held in 2021 but was postponed twice. 

The student-athletes who participate in the Universiade must be at least 18 years old and not have reached the age of 27, the organizers noted. However, the number of participants had not yet been unveiled as of Wednesday. 

"The age limit ensures that the Universiade remains a competition for young athletes who are pursuing higher education," Li Yang, a ­Chengdu-based sports commentator, told the Global Times. 

"It provides an opportunity for university students to represent their institutions and compete at an international level before transitioning into professional sports, if they choose to do so."

The Dong'an Lake Sports Park Stadium, which will host the opening ceremony of the Chengdu World University Games Photo: VCG

Cultural exchanges

The Universiade also fosters cultural exchanges and understanding among participants who come from all over the world. To enhance this aspect of the Universiade, a number of cultural events have been scheduled to take place during the event.

Qiu Li, a senior official of the executive committee of the Chengdu Universiade, said Wednesday that 16 major cultural events, including tourist sites and exhibitions, have been set up to give visitors the opportunities to learn more about Sichuan, both its modern and ancient facets.

The Chengdu Plain, long praised as a land of abundance, once nurtured the magnificent ancient Shu civilization, whose splendor is showcased at archaeological sites such as Sanxingdui and Jinsha.

One high-profile cultural event is the unveiling of the new Sanxingdui Museum on the opening day of the Universiade. 

Of particular note is the fame of Chengdu's Shu brocade, which was one of the most notable commodities traded along the Silk Road. It is also the origin of the city's nickname "City of Brocade."

Among the fascinating history of the city, Chengdu was also the capital of the Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms (220-280) period. The sages Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang are enshrined in the city.

Riding on the rapid development of agriculture on the fertile plain, Chengdu, which also boasts the tourist magnet that is the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, has gradually developed into a vibrant commercial hub. 

The city's sports industry has seen some substantial progress after Chengdu won the Universiade bid in 2019.

In 2022, the total scale of sports consumption in Chengdu increased to 57.86 billion yuan ($8 billion), representing a growth of 44.5 percent compared to 2018, the organizers said. 

This significant increase led to Chengdu being selected as one of the first batch of national sports-consumption pilot cities. 

The total output value of the sports industry in the city reached 100.5 billion yuan in 2022, with an added value of 38.5 billion yuan, marking respective growth rates of 59 percent and 79 percent compared to 2018.

Sustainable event

The various competitions of the Universiade are widely distributed across the venues at different universities in Chengdu, allowing college students to watch them up close and significantly reducing the expenses associated with building new venues. 

Of the total 49 competing and training facilities for the Universiade, only 13 venues are brand new.  

Similarly, the renovation of existing venues incorporates modern technology into old facilities, maximizing their energy-saving and environmentally friendly aspects.

Test events for the 18 sports at the Universiade have been run from April to June, with a total of 5,825 people from 367 teams participating, according to Qiu. 

Though the Universiade has yet to start, the facilities, which were ready before the original date set for August 2021, are open to the public free-of-charge or at low entry prices. 

The year 2022 saw over 5.09 million people taking part in sports activities at these facilities, the organizers said. 

Some of the new facilities have been already planned for future use, as several sports events have been scheduled to be held in the city, such as the men's tennis ATP Tour Chengdu Open and the badminton Thomas and Uber Cup in 2024. The student-athletes village, newly constructed on a campus of Chengdu University, will be turned into education facilities after the Universiade.