"Smart, Green, and Sustainable" Hangzhou Asian Games is committed to achieving comprehensive social benefits

On the evening of September 23, a highly anticipated sports event - the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou - will officially kick off. Over the course of 15 competition days, nearly 12000 athletes from all 45 countries and regions in Asia will compete for 481 gold medals in 40 major events at 56 Asian Games and Paralympics venues in the host cities of Hangzhou and five co hosting cities including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Jinhua. In addition to traditional sports such as football, basketball, athletics, and swimming, this Asian Games has incorporated popular non Olympic sports among Asian nations, such as wicker, cricket, and judoka, as well as skateboarding, which is loved by young people.

On the evening of September 20th, citizens watched a light show on the city balcony in Hangzhou. Photo by Wei Xiaohao, China Daily reporter

The Hangzhou Asian Games is the third Asian Games hosted by China. On the 20th, Chen Weiqiang, Executive Secretary General of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, Deputy Director of the Hangzhou Asian Games General Command Office, and spokesperson for the Hangzhou Asian Games, said, "We are ready to present a sports event with 'Chinese characteristics, Asian style, and splendid diversity' to the world."

National participation in the entire process of the "Intelligent Asian Games" digital technology empowerment competition

"Intelligent Asian Games" is one of the organizing concepts of the Hangzhou Asian Games, which fully utilizes digital technology in both the preparation process and the stage of hosting. Not only has it launched a series of beloved digital products, but it has also launched an electronic identity registration card for the first time, making it convenient for athletes and technical officials to participate in the Asian Games. There are intelligent expressions at various ports for watching and hosting the Asian Games. Many Chinese and foreign journalists who came to participate in the report said that the process and procedures of moving into the media village were very smooth, and everything was well organized; In the media village, I also experienced many technological and intelligent elements.

At the press conference of the Command Center for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Hangzhou Asian Games held on the 21st, relevant spokespersons revealed the details of the high-light timing ignition ceremony. The opening ceremony team planned a public participation and digital interconnection ignition method. In June of this year, with the successful collection of Asian Games torches at the Liangzhu Ancient City Site, the world's first online torch relay event using blockchain technology also began simultaneously. In the past three months, netizens from over 130 countries and regions around the world have become digital torchbearers of the Asian Games through the "Smart Asian Games One Stop Pass" and participated in online torch relay. There are hundreds of millions of digital torchbearers, with the oldest being 98 years old and the youngest being 12 years old.

In addition, in terms of intelligent observation, the Asian Games Organizing Committee has created the first digital observation service platform, "Intelligent Asian Games One Stop", and has also launched the Asian Games AR service. Due to limited venue space and high demand for competition tickets, many spectators may not be able to purchase tickets or wish to watch the Asian Games through online viewing platforms. This platform provides these spectators with the opportunity to experience the Asian Games firsthand.

From Hangzhou Asian Games Village to the Olympic Sports Center, there is a panoramic view of the Qiantang River. At present, the world's first 5G Advanced 10G network demonstration route has been implemented in the region, and a full series of naked eye 3D applications have been tailored for the Asian Games. Hangzhou citizens expressed during the experience of the application, "Watching a football game in 3D with naked eyes makes you feel like the football is about to fly out of the screen!"

Autonomous electric shuttle buses will provide services for the Asian Games. Long Wei/China Daily

Vinold Kumar Tivari, Acting Director General of the Asian Olympic Council, recently stated that he was deeply impressed by the convenience of the digital applications used at the Hangzhou Asian Games. "No one here accepts cash, they make payments through mobile phones. Secondly, there is an electronic identity registration card. Just walk in and the photo will come out." Tivari said, "You don't need to scan a barcode or anything."

Canadian journalist Adams, who came to Hangzhou for the second time, said that compared to the last time he came, what he felt the most was the changes brought about by technological progress. New energy vehicles are everywhere on the streets, which not only reduce noise but also save energy and protect the environment. Almost every consumption scenario can be scanned for payment, which is very convenient.

The Chief Information Technology Officer of the International Olympic Committee, Alerio Kona, said that the Hangzhou Asian Games created history with cloud computing, and the core system and broadcasting of events were fully cloud based, laying a solid foundation for the digital popularization of large-scale events.

The "Green Asian Games" promote the integration of environmental protection and low-carbon into daily life

In Gonghe County, Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, millions of deep blue photovoltaic panels are distributed on the green plateau. According to a report by China Daily on the 22nd, this will provide electricity for the Hangzhou Asian Games venue. A single crystal double-sided photovoltaic module will generate an average of 2.2 kilowatt hours of electricity per day. Through the Lingzhou Shaoxing ± 800 kV ultra-high voltage direct current transmission project and other "West East Power Transmission" major channels, it is transmitted to Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. 2.2 kilowatt hours of electricity can supply an energy-saving lamp in the Hangzhou Asian Games Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium to light up for 220 hours. It will help all venues of the Hangzhou Asian Games to use green electricity, which will also be the first time in the history of the Asian Games.

Ma Chuang, Deputy Director of Marketing Department of State Grid Hangzhou Power Supply Company, said that in order to ensure green travel services during the Asian Games, the company has built a total of 102 charging stations and 2024 charging piles. The Asian Games Village new energy vehicle charging station, which was put into operation in July this year, is the first high-power wireless charging station in China. As of June 30th, Hangzhou has built 1588 public charging and swapping stations and over 21000 public charging stations. "I hope to use major international events such as the Asian Games to deepen the concept of green and low-carbon travel in people's hearts," he said.

Iranian journalist Jamat had a good experience of urban life in Hangzhou while completing his reporting work on the Asian Games. He said, "The transportation here is convenient and the air is good. I am willing to take my family here for vacation in the future. Nowadays, Chinese people have a higher quality of life and a more open and inclusive mindset."

Image: Li Min from China Daily

Venold, Acting Director General of the Asian Olympic Council, recently stated that compared to previous Asian Games, the Hangzhou Asian Games is likely to be the most environmentally friendly. "The infrastructure and sports venues of the Hangzhou Asian Games are built entirely in accordance with environmental protection principles. We can see that almost all cars here are electric vehicles, which will set an example for future Asian Games." Vinold said that other countries can learn from the green hosting concept of the Hangzhou Asian Games.

According to previous reports, "Green" as one of the organizing concepts of the Hangzhou Asian Games has always adhered to the starting point of serving the event and benefiting the lives of citizens and industrial development in the preparation work. For example, in the past two years, Hangzhou has increased its green area by over 10 million square meters every year, and has built a total of eight types of greenways, totaling over 4700 kilometers. This not only greatly improves the quality of public life in Hangzhou, but also invisibly promotes a green and low-carbon lifestyle.

Regarding the highly anticipated opening ceremony on the evening of the 23rd, Sha Xiaolan, the chief director and producer of the Hangzhou Asian Games opening ceremony, stated that this year's Asian Games opening ceremony will break the established "fireworks display" mode of large-scale events in the past. The cancellation of physical fireworks performances is a manifestation of environmental awareness and better highlights the theme of green Asian Games.

The "Sustainable Heritage" of the Hangzhou Asian Games will serve various cultural and sports activities in the future

According to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, sustainable development has been integrated into every detail of the preparation work for this year's Asian Games, from venue construction, sometimes restoration, to operation and utilization during and after the competition. Among the 56 competition venues at the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian Paralympics, only 12 are newly built. The remaining 44 venues and 31 training venues were renovated or temporarily built on existing venues.

Qiu Peihuang, Director of the Venue Construction Department of the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, said, "Throughout the construction of the venue, we have always adhered to the concept of frugality, conducted long-term comparisons, and minimized our overall costs." He stated that before renovating each existing venue, a comprehensive evaluation of its facilities and equipment will be conducted to determine whether it can continue to be used for the Asian Games or other venues.

The picture shows Hangzhou University of Electronic Science and Technology Gymnasium/China Daily

Taking Hangzhou University of Electronic Science and Technology Gymnasium, which will host the fencing events of the Asian Games and Asian Paralympics, as an example, the venue has more than 5000 seats and has been in good condition since its opening before 2017. Therefore, the organizing committee has decided to remove and clean these seats, and put them back into use in the gymnasium. The LED screens that have been used in the gymnasium for 6 years have also been relocated to the school's swimming and fitness center for continued use.

The China Light Textile City Sports Center Gymnasium, located in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, is the competition venue for the volleyball event of this Asian Games. Originally, it was a basketball court, but in order to achieve renovation, the organizing committee rented a special rubber floor, which was directly laid on the original floor of the basketball court. After the game, simply return the rubber floor and you can return to the basketball court.

Most of the facilities in the temporary venues are set up for reuse, and the Asian Games squash court is also the same. It was temporarily renovated from the 4D exhibition hall of the Hangzhou International Expo Center. According to Zhou Congcong, the director of the operation and maintenance of the facilities at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center's National Museum squash court, the eight squash courts set up for the Asian Games will continue to be used after the end of the competition. He said, "One of the venues like this squash court will be given to the museum of the Asian Games, and the other seven venues will be provided to the community, schools, and educational institutions to continue to play a role in promoting the sport of squash."

The picture shows Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium/China Daily

The daily operation of competition venues also highlights the sustainability principles promoted by this Asian Games. The Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Swimming Pool is a competition and training venue for swimming, diving, artistic swimming, and other events, adopting the design concept of dual venue integration. The entire swimming pool is equipped with 83 light pipes above the center of the field, which diffuse natural light from the outside to the inside through the top daylighting cover. The service life can reach up to 25 years and it has the function of opening and closing.

The venue has five pools with a storage capacity of over 10000 tons. The swimming pool adopts a 24-hour water circulation system. The water in the pool passes through the outlet of the pool wall for a new round of circulation treatment every day, and then enters the pool again through the return pipe to ensure clear water quality. Xu Lingchong, the news and publicity director of the operation team of the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Swimming Pool, said, "Every day, the water in the swimming pool goes through the outlet of the pool wall for a new round of recycling treatment, which can save 180000 tons of water per year."

Qiu Peihuang introduced that sustainable development is also reflected in the fact that competition venues will continue to operate after the competition and benefit the host city. The newly built Hangzhou Esports Center will continue to serve as an important venue for esports, while also hosting ball games, concerts, theatrical performances, and trade exhibitions to achieve comprehensive social benefits.

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