The unique "village flavor" of Hangzhou Asian Games Village

On September 16th, the Hangzhou Asian Games Village opened. During the Asian Games, athletes, team officials, media personnel, and others from different countries and regions lived together here and became the "villagers" of the Asian Games Village.

Why is it necessary to build a dedicated "village" for the Asian Games? What is special about this "village"?

At each Olympic or Asian Games, the Olympic Village and Asian Games Village are one of the most eye-catching places outside the competition venue. This is the non competition venue with the longest running time, highest continuity requirements, and the most service targets during the competition period.

So many sports athletes gather in one space in a short period of time, many of whom are also world-class sports stars. Their food, accommodation, and transportation may all affect their performance on the field. In addition, there are also many multimedia journalists and technical officials living in the Asian Games Village, which can be said to have attracted a lot of attention.

For the organizers, the smoothness of the operation of the Asian Games Village is one of the important criteria for measuring the perfection of the Asian Games, and it is also an invisible arena for showcasing the soft power of cities to the world.

However, the Olympic Village and Asian Games Village were not present from the beginning. In the early Olympics, athletes and staff from around the world mostly lived in various hotels in the host city. With the increasing scale of the competition, dispersed housing is undoubtedly not conducive to the management and safety of athletes. As early as the 1924 Paris Olympics, organizers first concentrated participants in specially constructed wooden houses, and the earliest Olympic Village emerged. Since the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, it has become a tradition to provide Olympic Villages for participants from various countries.

Article 42 of the Olympic Charter stipulates: "In order for all athletes, officials, and other staff to live together, the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games shall provide an Olympic Village that can be occupied at least two weeks before the opening ceremony and three days after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games."

The earliest Asian Games Village appeared at the 4th Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1962. For a long time, due to changes in time and differences in host cities, the style of the Asian Games Village has also reflected the characteristics of the times and cultural differences.

In 1990, the Beijing Asian Games Village was lined with tall buildings, becoming one of the important landmarks of Beijing's modernization construction after the reform and opening up. At that time, it was known as the "first village in China".

20 years later, the Asian Games Village started writing in the southern city of Yangcheng. Guangzhou Asian Games Village regards Lingnan culture as its distinctive business card, and Lingnan characteristic symbols such as banyan trees, bonsai, ancient bridges, and painted boats can be seen everywhere in the village. The stage set up in the village features a series of cultural performances such as Cantonese opera and dragon boat singing.

Turn the clock to the Hangzhou Asian Games. In February 2018, the Asian Games Village was located on the southeast bank of the Qiantang River. Five years have passed, and the original countryside now has a completely different appearance.

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The theme song of the Hangzhou Asian Games conveys the beauty of friendship and harmony brought by sports, with the same sea and sky, facing dawn and stars, yearning and longing, and fulfilling our dream together.

What is the Hangzhou Asian Games Village, which covers a total area of 113 hectares and has 108 buildings? After the visit, the author believes that there are three flavors worth mentioning.

Let's first talk about the artistic flavor. Hangzhou, a historic and cultural city, never lacks romance. From the rose flowers on the elevated road to the 1314 Love Bus, Hangzhou integrates cultural heritage and romantic delicacy. Such artistic style can also be seen everywhere in the Asian Games Village.

For example, the designer incorporated the "Dwelling in Fuchun Mountain" painting onto the exterior facade of the Asian Games Village International Area building, extracting texture and color from celadon and Liangzhu ancient jade, and also extracting the form of mountains and waters from the "Dwelling in Fuchun Mountain" painting. From a distance, on the exterior of the blue-green buildings, the patterns of mountains and rivers are faintly visible, giving people a warm texture and conveying the Eastern aesthetics of the Asian Games Village.

In the cultural cabin of the Asian Games Village, there are exhibitions of traditional cultural works such as Paper Cuttings and block printing, as well as exhibitions and interactive projects such as tea culture, guqin art, fan making skills, and woodblock watermarks, so that guests can fully experience the charm of Chinese traditional culture.

Let's talk about the numerical flavor of the molten copper work "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains". Hangzhou aims to reshape itself as the first city of China's digital economy, and the digital flavor in the Asian Games Village is also indispensable.

In the history of international large-scale events, Hangzhou Asian Games Village was the first to achieve comprehensive digital management of athlete villages. In the Asian Games Village, there is a "Cloud based Asian Games Village" system where service personnel will respond in a timely manner by categorizing their daily needs, such as food, accommodation, and transportation, when "villagers" send them out in the cloud.

If villagers want to book a shuttle bus to the supermarket, they can easily take it downstairs from the apartment building with simple operations on their mobile phones. In addition, catering reservations, cultural performances, and low-carbon accounts will all provide thoughtful services for athletes.

In addition, there are intelligent applications such as unmanned freshly ground coffee robots, mosquito catching robots, Go robots, and table tennis robots in the village.

Finally, let's talk about the smell of fireworks. Whether a village is lively or not depends on whether the food and play are good or not. In the Hangzhou Asian Games Village, various cuisines from around the world gather in restaurants, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang specialty dishes such as Huzhou Qianzhang Bao and Song Sao's Fish Soup are also included in the food menu, making it a diverse choice.

On days without competitions, strolling in the village can lead to various leisure places such as fitness centers and commercial centers; Villagers who are willing to take action can enter cultural cottages on the street and experience Song embroidery techniques and celadon firing; Those interested in Chinese culture can experience the fun of intelligent seal carving, designing and making personalized art seals.

In short, the Asian Games Village strives to create a comfortable, warm, convenient, and efficient living experience, surpassing the simple definition of a place of residence and becoming a common home for everyone.

In memory of Jiangnan, the most memorable place is Hangzhou. How to showcase "Chinese characteristics and Asian style" for Hangzhou Asian Games Village? The author believes that the Asian Games Village will play three roles.

Firstly, this is a harbor that serves the villagers. The most important task of the Asian Games Village is to provide good services and guarantees. Facing villagers from different countries, cultural backgrounds, and lifestyle habits, the biggest challenge during the competition is how to ensure safety and comfort, enthusiasm and moderation, and meticulousness in service guarantee.

We see that the "little green lotus" in the Asian Games Village patiently answer questions and provide help at all times, demonstrating the composure and confidence of Chinese youth; The staff of each team provide 24-hour service to ensure every detail. We have reason to believe that the Asian Games Village is ready.

As the training and living base for athletes during the Asian Games, this relaxed and warm home for athletes has left ample space for mutual communication and also provided Hangzhou with a stage to showcase the charm of Chinese culture and the unique charm of Jiangnan.

Tea culture, Song culture, silk culture... The elegant Jiangnan region, which has traveled for thousands of years, has made its debut on the stage of the Asian Games Village, heading international and conveying the cultural charm of "poetry and painting Jiangnan, vibrant Zhejiang".

According to reports, International Olympic Committee advisor Theodora Masares said, "Many of the designs for the Hangzhou Asian Games are presented in languages and patterns that people around the world can understand. This is a communication method that everyone can understand, which can promote communication and exchange among countries and regions. I greatly appreciate this."

Finally, this is a runway leading to the future. Organize a meeting well and elevate a city. Sports events and urban affairs are inseparable. During the Asian Games Village, it is a competition, and after the competition, it is necessary to return to the daily life of the city. The Cloud Asian Games Village will continue to provide accessible smart services for residents in the community, integrating the wisdom of the Asian Games Village with urban development.

The Asian Games Village adopted a "reversible construction" renovation plan during the construction process. After the competition, after the demolition and renovation of various areas in the Asian Games Village, it will return to daily life. For example, the equipment maintenance room in the Asian Games Village, this courtyard with pink walls and black tiles, will become a kindergarten after the competition, the athlete's restaurant will return to its school identity, and the apartment will be transformed into a future community

More importantly, how to summarize the construction ideas, service concepts, management experience, and governance system used in the Asian Games Village, and apply them to future urban construction and management, is an important component of the Asian Games heritage. Hangzhou will leverage the wisdom and experience of the Asian Games Village to further enhance its urban management and governance level.

In the Hangzhou Asian Games Village, there is a special bridge that displays "hello" in over a dozen languages, which is why this bridge is called the "Hello Bridge". This bridge will carry and witness dreams and friendships from all over the world.

Final review: Sun Yu