Chinese Taipei delegation Photo: VCG

Chengdu is a place to enjoy friendship and fulfill your dreams in an open and passionate atmosphere, young athletes and entrepreneurs from the island of Taiwan told the Global Times as the Chinese Taipei delegation claimed 18 medals including one gold at the 31st FISU World University Game as of Tuesday night.

"I didn't think about getting the medal during the competition, but just immersed myself in my performance," said Wushu athlete Sun Chia-hung, who won the first gold medal for the island's delegation in the Men's Taijiquan in Chengdu on Sunday.

"We've been continuously training for the game as it was delayed. It has been hard but the good thing is that you can calm down, and find out the weaknesses hidden within the previous matches," Sun told the Global Times after the competition. Sun's splendid performance accompanied by his chosen background track, "I love you, China" brought him enduring thunderous applause from spectators. 

The patriotic background music is almost known to everyone in the mainland. It touched numerous people after his performance video clip went viral online where netizens congratulated Sun for his victory and praised his choice as it reflected both sides of the Taiwan Straits as being part of one family: the Chinese nation.

Aside from the Sunday gold medal win, Sun also claimed a silver in the Men's Taijijian competition on Saturday, an event in which he lost to Samuei Hui Tak-yan from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions delegation. "Hui and I are old friends. We've participated in many competitions together for years. We are very happy to see each other no matter whose score is higher," said Sun.

Sun has not been alone in enjoying the sporting event while making friends. Yu Ai-che, a basketball player from the Island of Taiwan also told the Global Times how fantastic the atmosphere has been in Chengdu after Monday's Men's basketball competition played against the mainland team. 

Yu said he's extremely grateful to the audience, who continually cheered and clapped for the island's players throughout the game every time they scored or made a good defensive play, expressing strong wishes to play more games with Chinese mainland players to see both teams' technique improved.

Outside the sports grounds, two young entrepreneurs from Taiwan served as volunteers at the Chengdu Universiade and explored their prospective future careers as new "Chengduers."

 "I'm very excited and moved to see the athletes from the Chinese Taipei delegation here bringing glory to our hometown," said young Taiwan resident Lin Ziyou, who was selected as the Universiade Citizen Ambassador and a city volunteer in 2022 to promote the games to local people in Chengdu and help the university delegation and media from the island during the game.

Lin came to the mainland eight years ago and finally chose Chengdu as her "lucky place" to build an activity center with the local community's cooperation, to bring cultural and educational programs from the island to the mainland. "Chengdu is a city where one can pursue their passions and dreams while also enjoying a leisure life. It possesses a profound cultural heritage, and the people here are quick to embrace different things," Lin told the Global Times.

Selected as one of the 100 Universiade Citizen Ambassadors from nearly 30,000 people, Lin has organized and participated in more than 20 activities to promote the Universiade since March 2022. 

To highlight the element of cross-Straits understanding, Lin has held sharing events in the local community where she introduced the food, climate, and tourist attractions of Taiwan to local children in Chengdu and vice versa. For families from Taiwan living in Chengdu, Lin organized parent-child interactive activities to help them know more about the Universiade and the city.

Taiwan's media personality Zhang Yijie, who came to the mainland in 2018, was stationed in the athletic village during the Universiade as a volunteer in logistics, helping to maneuver teams to serve the students of the Chinese Taipei team.

"For me, Chengdu is a place that gave me a second chance. I found my work direction here. I earned money and found my soulmate here. I'm now a son-in-law of Chengdu," Zhang told the Global Times.

Zhang has worked in Chongqing and Chengdu, and has transited from the fitness industry into a blogger focusing on the life experience of people from Taiwan in Chengdu, and talked about the differences between life on the mainland and Taiwan, in the hope of reducing the information gap between the two sides to enhance mutual understanding.

Both Lin and Zhang said they'll continue to facilitate in-depth communication and exchanges between the youth from both sides of the Straits. 

Recalling the eight-year experience in the mainland where Lin first started an internship after university graduation, she was employed by different companies located in super large first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai to fourth-tier places such as Hengshui in North China's Hebei Province. She finally settled in Chengdu to start her own business enterprise, 

Lin told the Global Times she has a strong emotional bond with the mainland. "I think a long-lasting and profound cross-Straits friendship will definitely come after people from both sides: first becoming familiar with each other, growing an intimacy, and then having pragmatic exchanges with each other," said Lin.