20000 "Little Green Peppers" Achieve Dream Athletes in Chengdu | Volunteers | Dreams

The 31st Chengdu Summer Universiade, in addition to athletes, has a young group everywhere, running through the entire youth event. "Xiao Qing Jiao" is their common name, which sounds like "Qing Jiao".

About 20000 college students from 36 universities jointly formed this volunteer team for the competition. They participated in this youthful competition with thoughtful, enthusiastic, and professional service, dressed in white background and green embellishments.

Most of them are born in the 2000s and aspire to showcase themselves and achieve their dreams in the first international comprehensive sports event held in a city in western China.

"Everyone feels lucky to be able to participate."

Almost every person who comes to Chengdu to participate in the Universiade feels the enthusiastic service of "Little Green Pepper" from the moment they arrive at the airport.

In March of this year, the selection and training of volunteers for the competition officially began, and the enthusiasm of college students to sign up for participation was surprising. "The competition ratio for some positions has reached 7:1," said Wu Shuyu, a staff member of the Volunteer Recruitment Office of the Human Resources Department of the Chengdu Universiade Executive Committee.

Luck is a high-frequency word used in "little green pepper". Volunteers for the competition must be students on campus. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Chengdu Universiade has been postponed for two years. Some of the earliest applicants missed out on the event due to various reasons such as graduation or pursuing postgraduate studies outside the province.

The weight of this volunteer service in their hearts is respected - on July 22nd, the first day of the opening of the Dayun Village welcomed a warm moment. A group of young people who were unable to become volunteers due to the postponement of the competition period were invited by the Executive Committee to visit and exchange ideas in the Universiade Village. They accompanied this year's "Little Green Pepper" and shared their insights and experiences as volunteers.

"I have made many friends here and said goodbye to many of them," said Sun Zhenheng, the service assistant of the basketball venue center delegation at the Chengdu University Games and a student at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, expressing his luck. He said, "We need to pass on the spirit of volunteer service."

Chen Danni, who is currently studying for graduate school in another province and returning to volunteer during her vacation, is undoubtedly lucky. During the period from October 2021 to the end of July 2022, she worked on the executive committee for 5 days a week and completed her undergraduate thesis in the cracks.

"A person doesn't have many opportunities in their lifetime to devote their 'best years of youth' to such great things," said Chen Danni.

Yang Qian, the language service assistant at the volleyball venue center of Sichuan Transportation Vocational and Technical College, is a first-year graduate student majoring in Business English at Southwest University of Finance and Economics. For three consecutive years, she participated in the selection and training of volunteers. And being admitted to graduate schools in Chengdu provides her with the opportunity to continue her connection with the Universiade.

Some people unexpectedly become volunteers. Liu Yuxi, a freshman at Southwest Petroleum University, is the etiquette team leader of the Chengbei Sports Center. Before coming to Chengdu, she "never thought she could join this grand event" - at the first prize ceremony of this year's Universiade, she was the guide for the award ceremony guests of the National Sports Federation.

"The 2025 World Games will be held in Chengdu, and I will definitely have to volunteer," said Liu Yuxi.

"Sichuan people have a strong sense of stubbornness in their bones. When we first come to Chengdu for this kind of competition, we will definitely do it well," said Yue Teng, a sophomore student of Sichuan Police Academy and a flag bearer at the opening ceremony. "Everyone feels lucky to be able to participate."

In his view, the arrival of the Universiade can demonstrate the vigorous development of Chengdu and even western China in recent years. "There will be a continuous stream of opportunities in Chengdu in the future," said Yue Teng.

"I represent more than just myself"

The opening ceremony of the Universiade undoubtedly features a beautiful scenery for the students of Sichuan Police Academy. They lined up neatly and entered the venue, taking on the responsibilities of all flag and ceremonial role models in the opening ceremony.

Pan Rui, a freshman student with a height of 189cm, holds the Chinese national flag in his hand. The flagpole is 3 meters high and weighs over 10 pounds. As flag bearers, they need to have their hands flat, making the flagpole perpendicular to the ground, and completing a series of formation changes. "My arm started to ache a few minutes after the first lift," Pan Rui said.

From the completion of the delegation's entry to the end of the speeches by the officials of the General Union, they held flags and remained motionless, at most making subtle adjustments that were not easily noticeable. When accompanying the flag bearer of the delegation through the podium, they also need to maintain a moderate smile.

For flag soldiers, they also showcase the face of the Chinese youth to the world.

On the first day of the competition, Liu Yuxi, who was performing ceremonial tasks, noticed that the moment when the national flag was raised on the field was particularly different. "I really want to cry, it's really a sense of national pride." She realized the teacher's repeated mention during the training, "You represent China.".

When talking about the posture that Liu Yuxi needs to demonstrate as a guest guide, she also used four words: neither humble nor arrogant.

Zhang Furong, the receptionist assistant at the volleyball venue center of Sichuan Transportation Vocational and Technical College, also mentioned these four words. They once asked the teacher what they should do if the foreign guests had unreasonable demands. The mentor told them that as hosts, we also have our own rules and will not meet all requirements indefinitely. We represent this country and respond calmly.

In 1992, China proposed the theme slogan for its first bid for the Olympics, which was "Open China Looking Forward to the Olympics". In 2008, the slogan of the Beijing Olympics was "One World, One Dream", but this time, the slogan of the Chengdu Universiade was "Chengdu Achieves Dreams". The change in the slogan reflects the changes in a country.

Zhao Jing, Director of the Summer Universiade of the International University Sports Federation, said that behind the change in slogans is the increasing confidence of the motherland, which is also reflected in young people.

The open, enthusiastic, and confident "Little Green Pepper" has its unique advantages. Zhao Jing gave an example that the permission checks in all venues of the Chengdu Universiade were completed by volunteers. They need to verify the visitor's identification at the designated location to determine which zone they can enter. At first, she was a bit worried that young volunteers would easily let go because they were foreigners or seemed to be Chinese leaders.

But Zhao Jing later discovered that "Little Green Pepper" had delivered a perfect answer sheet. Regardless of who passes by the corresponding location and needs to verify their documents, volunteers will politely ask, "Excuse me, may I take a look at your card?"

In Zhao Jing's view, this small detail reflects "Little Green Pepper"'s diligence and cuteness.

"Weiwei is us"

Wu Yi, the catering service assistant at the volleyball venue center of Sichuan Transportation Vocational and Technical College, is a freshman student at Sichuan Transportation Vocational and Technical College. The main job of this position is to ensure the distribution of meals for all venue staff and volunteers. So they are usually the earliest volunteers to arrive at the venue, occasionally working from six to nine.

After finishing the day's service, everyone was very tired and would sing and play board games together to relieve stress. Wu Yi has a favorite song called "Weiwei", which once accompanied this Jiangsu candidate through his third year of high school. Now when he started singing this song, he had a new feeling: "Everyone is that unknown hero, 'Weiwei' is us."

Weiwei became popular due to a talent show. "Weiwei is every fallen leaf in autumn, Weiwei is every raindrop in the rainbow, Weiwei is small but never tired, Weiwei is us..."

Every corner of the Universiade is filled with subtle stories. "Volunteering is not easy," Zhao Jing sighed, as they served in the nearest place to the competition, but "most 'little green peppers' couldn't see the competition at all.".

The location of catering assistants like Wu Yi is not in the same building as the competition venue, there are also transportation assistants standing outdoors with forms in the wind and rain, audience assistants at the entrance ticket checkpoint, and even the cheers from the competition venue have not been heard.

The logistics service and human resources assistant work right next to the field, but only hear the sound of the game and do not see the people on the field. The concierge assistant and check-in assistant occasionally catch a glimpse of the stadium when escorting people into the venue. The audience service assistant standing on the field at all times listens to the intense competition of the athletes behind them, but they must never turn back. They must always face the enthusiastic audience in front of them. This is their "arena"

Volunteers serving the media can see the competition, but most of the time they run back and forth in the office and venue media seats where the results are printed. Sometimes, it is common to run more than ten times a night.

Zheng Shuai from Sichuan Vocational and Technical College of Transportation has recently become popular on social media due to a video of playing volleyball. In the video, he sat in the corner constantly picking up, passing, and wiping the ball, always being careful of the force when bouncing the ball back to the player.

The four quick wipers sitting on the left and right sides of the referee's bench should raise their hands as soon as there is sweat on the field, run to the court, squat down, and quickly wipe the ground to prevent athletes from falling. Therefore, these quick wipers often maintain a starting position, getting up three or five times a minute is normal, and when they are fast wiping, they also need to ensure that they cannot fall.

After a scene, these quick wipes often cause a lot of sweating. They sat on the sidelines ponies, not watching the game, but observing the game and pondering when they would be deployed. The audience cheered and the contestants celebrated, but they remained calm. A classmate asked Zheng Shuai, "Have you ever been a special forces soldier? The audience is so excited, why are you expressionless?"

Compared to the hardships observed by the outside world, most students feel happiness and excitement.

Volunteer Ma Lei is responsible for working as a procurement and logistics assistant at the venue. The afternoon before the interview, he had just moved 6571 blind boxes into the museum with his friends. "We moved for a long time, and all the classmates who were available came to help at that time. Later, we carried blind boxes in red cloth and moved inside together. As we moved, everyone joked, 'Please have one more VIP inside', creating a very happy atmosphere."

The result sender Zhou Bing and the reporters from all countries in the media workroom are very happy. The players in the mixed mining area will say "thank you" to them when they pass, and the reporters and audience will say "hard work" to them when they pass. "That's enough," said Zhang Li.

The smiles on each other are a "supplement of energy"

Why choose to volunteer? Each "little green pepper" has its own answer.

Their love for sports is enough to motivate them to make this choice. At the volleyball venue of Guanghua Campus of Southwest University of Finance and Economics, Quick Wipe Hands is a student majoring in volleyball from Chengdu Sports College. Zhou Xinru can almost be described as "shining with both eyes" when wiping the ball on the sidelines. Being able to serve these players up close makes her volleyball enthusiast feel particularly happy.

Yang Yunjing, a 19-year-old girl from Sichuan University, is an English major student and a volunteer member of the Turkmenistan delegation during the Universiade. When communicating with the delegation members, she felt each other's friendliness and politeness. The head of the delegation also knows a little French, so they made an appointment to communicate in French and practice together.

In the Universiade Village, such scenes can be seen everywhere: volunteers and athletes warmly greet each other in various languages, even if it is just a brief moment when the shuttle bus passes by. The distance between peers is easier to bridge.

Zhang Ouyun, a student at Southwest University of Finance and Economics, said that sometimes a smile between each other is a "supplement to energy.".

Zhang Ouyun's senior brother Li Chenjun is the vice president of the school's Youth Volunteer Association. This time, in addition to serving as an audience service assistant, Li Chenjun also leads teams back and forth between venues and schools every day. He often says a sentence that resonates with many volunteers: love volunteer service, I can't explain why.

The situation in the three QQ groups where Southwest University of Finance and Economics released volunteer service tasks also confirms such love. Each group has 2000 people, and every time a task is posted, it is "light speed grabbing light".

156 young people from Sichuan Transportation Vocational and Technical College provided over 23000 hours of volunteer service for the volleyball hall of the Universiade. In daily life, almost 100% of these young people have participated in volunteer service.

In 2019, Sichuan Province released the first national pilot plan for the reform of the youth volunteer service system, with Chengdu being one of the pilot cities.

The group of volunteers for the Universiade happened to be in such a background. Taking the Wenjiang District of Chengdu, where the venue of Sichuan Transportation Vocational and Technical College is located, as an example, the Wenjiang District Committee of the Youth League has a slogan called "Take responsibility for those who take responsibility, and dedicate to those who give.". He Wanqiu, who is responsible for volunteer work at the venue, said that when volunteers go to serve others, we must serve them well. "We often say that Wenjiang brings warmth, peace, and a home to young people, and they share the burden, progress, and grow together with Wenjiang."

Volunteer Ma Xiaojie said that completing these volunteer services on a daily basis is like a "cultivation" game, where classmates will kindly "compare" and compare who volunteers for a longer time. Li Qinzhi, who had just been discharged from the military and caught up with the Universiade, was the flag bearer in the venue. He said, "There are too many people around me who do this thing, so we unconsciously do it together. Over time, it forms an atmosphere."

Zhou Bing mentioned that it was these volunteer services that allowed him to see the "various aspects of life": "At this time, we are not only students, but also members of society."

The Wenchuan earthquake and several subsequent strong earthquakes have left indelible marks in the hearts of this generation of young people. Many Sichuan volunteers, especially young people in earthquake stricken areas, believe that they have received help from the people of China and the international community in the past, and it is their duty to serve others when they have the opportunity.

There are more young people with simple and sincere emotions towards Chengdu and Sichuan. Many volunteers believe that appearing on the world stage as a "little green pepper" is not only showcasing the best Chengdu, but also showcasing their best selves.

Several volunteers neatly wrote this sentence on the wish wall: "The world never lacks the dreams of young people, the world only lacks the window to make dreams come true. Gather in Chengdu, dreams shine."

They are desperately trying to grasp this window and this stage. Zhao Jing always comes into close contact with these "cute and active" volunteers every time she visits the venue.

"I often tell them to relax a bit." In Zhao Jing's opinion, "Little Green Pepper" is doing her best in seemingly simple positions.

Eric Sen, Secretary General and CEO of the International Federation of Sports Federations, highly praised the volunteer work at the Universiade: "Volunteers are very kind and polite. Their work is very hard every day, but the organization arranges in an orderly manner, which also gives volunteers good care and respect."

The story of the Universiade has just begun

"I remember the fragrance of the flowers, so I deserve this time."

"Teenagers are reckless yet vivid, always ready to try and never mind failure."

"Youth has lofty aspirations, and youth's years will not float like a boat without a rudder."

On the wall of a volunteer home in a venue, the emotional expression of youth is presented on small notes. For Zhang Furong, such sensibility has always been precious.

Zhang Furong is a member of the school's national flag guard team. Train for at least two hours every day, and spend more energy when there are activities. Before joining, the teacher told them that this may not provide practical assistance for your personal development. But Zhang Furong doesn't care. She still remembers the day she decided to join the national flag guard: "Senior brothers and sisters kicked and walked forward in front of our military training team, and when I heard that voice, I suddenly understood what solemnity is."

"My faith is our country, our national flag," Zhang Furong said calmly and firmly. "This is the power of our new generation, and I want everyone to see it."

Looking back on the time when Zhao Jing volunteered for the Beijing Universiade in 2001, she felt silly and naive. Compared to being a volunteer, she felt more proud and excited as a Beijinger at that time. "But the current volunteers are completely different from my previous state. The new generation of college students is a very intelligent generation, they are very clear headed, fully aware of what they want to do and what they will get. This is not contradictory to their sincerity."

Yang Qian, a first-year graduate student, is the older sister of "Little Green Pepper" in the venue, and the pressure of employment is closer to her. This summer, she had to make a choice between volunteering for the Universiade and finding an internship, but through communication with her mentor, she ultimately decided to complete what she had been persisting in for over two years.

"After 7 days of closed training, I felt like my system was starting to run," Yang Qian said. Through her volunteer service at the Universiade, she has gained excellent opportunities to meet, exchange information, and learn from outstanding students from various schools. At the same time, her English skills and understanding of cross-cultural communication have been significantly improved through communication with foreign friends.

She also gained another perspective on the world here: "I gradually unconsciously turned my gaze to places outside of the players. I even wondered what these staff members were mainly responsible for, what their role was, and what details needed to be noted."

I pay more attention to what I can gain in volunteer service, especially what benefits can be different from ordinary internship work. These can only be observed and explored through her own efforts. After the start of the main competition, she quickly realized, "I can have countless ordinary internship experiences in countless summers, but I can only intersect with the Universiade this summer."

"When I heard the word 'legacy of the Universiade', I had a special resonance. This experience relieved my anxiety and pain. I can root myself in this rare experience and constantly absorb nutrients." Yang Qian said, "I can even clearly feel that a raindrop has entered my heart. This summer, there are no regrets."

What this experience has brought to "Little Green Pepper" may be even more profound than the outside world can imagine.

Wu Yi, a restaurant assistant who always likes to joke, has another side. He tried some volunteer work in his freshman year of high school. In his freshman year, he became a member of the school's national flag guard.

"I will go for a medical examination after the Universiade is over. I have admired soldiers since I was young," he suddenly choked up. "The two senior students of our National Guard have been involved in earthquake relief."

The sense of national pride and identity brought by the Universiade permeates the hearts of these young people, and also makes them fall in love with this city. The young man from Wuxi said, "I want to settle in Chengdu in the future."

At the home of volunteer Chen Danni during the Universiade, there are cabinets of various versions of "Rongbao". Since last year, Chen Danni has realized that volunteering can have an impact and help on others. She has a career dream now, hoping to work for the Communist Youth League in universities and help more people realize their self-worth through volunteer service.

Dayun Village will close on August 11th, which happens to be Chen Danni's 23rd birthday. When she heard this news, a sentence came to her mind: "I was 18 years old when the bid for the Universiade was successful. This was the agreement between my heart and the city of Chengdu. After many twists and turns, on the day I turned 23, I finally finished this task. This is something that fate has pulled me to do."

She couldn't predict how she would feel when the Universiade ended, but she thought of the Universiade Museum and said, "When I go back to see it, I feel like everything carries my memories."

The Chengdu Universiade has come to an end, and the dream like summer is also coming to an end. Volunteers will bid farewell to their identity as "little green peppers" and return to their daily lives. But it is precisely at this moment that a new chapter in their lives has just begun.

Reporter Hu Ning from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network