Polish Athletes Looking at Chengdu: Walking in the World Between Tradition and Modernity, Urban and Green Space | Athletes | Chengdu
The 31st Chengdu Summer Universiade is a grand event that combines sports competition and cultural exchange. Foreign university athletes who come to participate in the competition not only appreciate the contemporary Chinese social style and the charm of excellent traditional Chinese culture during the competition. Recently, several Polish fencers took a city stroll to experience Chengdu's cultural life and the concept of building a "park city" while participating in the competition.
Kuanzhai Alley is a relatively large-scale ancient street of the Qing Dynasty in Chengdu. Polish fencer Dominica Vasilchuk walked through the winding courtyard, trying on hairpins and panda hair clips. Bartholomey Shurley bravely tried ear picking, and after finishing, he also took off a badge from his body and gave it to the ear picking master as a token of gratitude.
At a shop that simulated an ancient silver vault, the clerk introduced the athletes to a "silver bill" worth buying a house. Vasilchuk picked up the "ancient large sum check" and joked, "I want to travel to the past with a huge sum of money at this moment." Shuerlai sighed, "In modern Chengdu, it seems like" going back to the past "is just a step away.".
The athletes then walked into a Sichuan Opera Theater, where "Sheng Dan Jing Mo Chou" appeared one after another on stage, creating a lively atmosphere. Vasilchuk said that although he couldn't understand what was being sung in traditional Chinese opera, he could still feel the emotions expressed in the drama.
On August 1st, Polish fencers Dominica Vasilchuk and Bartolomey Schurley, who participated in the 31st Summer Universiade in Chengdu, tried on costumes at the Sichuan Opera Theater. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Xiaolei
This year's Universiade coincides with the "2023 Chengdu Biennale" held at Tianfu Art Park. 235 artists from 22 countries and regions, as well as 476 art works of all categories, participated in the exhibition. Polish athletes linger here, appreciating art while experiencing Chengdu's new positioning as a "park city".
In the exhibition hall, artist Xu Bing's "English Square Calligraphy Classroom" caught the attention of Alexander Yeglinska. The fonts created by Xu Bing transform English letters into radicals in calligraphy, and combine them into brand new calligraphy square characters based on English words. "The value of this work lies in breaking traditional thinking and finding new perspectives beyond the existing cultural exchange and communication between the East and the West," said Yeglinska. She picked up a brush in the experience area and wrote the word "rabbit" on the paper. "I just learned to write with a brush in the Dayun Village. I am a rabbit and this year is my zodiac year."
On August 1st, Polish fencers Alexander Jeglinska and Dominica Vasilchuk, who participated in the 31st Summer Universiade in Chengdu, took a group photo at Tianfu Art Park. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Xu Xiaolei
The athletes also saw the work "Stargazing Dreams" by Polish artist Alicia Kwald here - a movable metal structure that balances huge stones in the air. The "Polish fragments" from a foreign land made several athletes feel very familiar, rushing to "claim" these stones from Warsaw or Krakow.
"Park City" is now a shining business card of Chengdu. The scattered parks and green spaces in the city carry the "poetry and distance" of the citizens, and Tianfu Art Park is a representative embodiment of this concept. Polish athletes walked out of the exhibition hall and strolled by the lakeside of flowers and plants, admiring various outdoor art installations. They couldn't help but marvel at the "green", "clean" and "avant-garde" here, and took photos to linger.;
