The 31st FISU Summer World University Games wrapped up in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on August 8, where the closing ceremony at the Chengdu Open Air Music Park provided a visual feast for spectators.
Performers hold up the flags of the 113 countries and regions that attended the 31st FISU Summer World University Games at the closing ceremony at the Chengdu Open Air Music Park, Sichuan Province, on August 8, 2023. /CFP
Young performers and athletes from home and abroad took part in the ceremony to showcase cultural diversity.
The entire ceremony took on the format of a musical drama, offering an overview of traditional and modern Sichuan culture. The huge LED screens showed the transformations of Sichuan's natural landscape and urban areas taking place over thousands of years. Singers performed Sichuan Opera and rap songs in Sichuan dialect antiphonally on the same stage. Percussionists dressed in the costumes of Han Dynasty pottery figurines unearthed in Sichuan collaborated with pop idols to perform the same song. Giant panda Rongbao, the mascot of the Games, interacted with the audience via video screens while changing costumes in tandem with the performers.
Mascot Rongbao is a highlight of the closing ceremony of the 31st FISU Summer World University Games. /CFP
Apart from captivating artistic performances, the ceremony also reviewed the many spectacular and heartwarming moments from the 12-day sports event. These included images of young athletes showing off their power during track events, and when international coaches offered tuition to the Sri Lankan gym athlete who attended the Games alone. Other highlights included the moment when a Chinese athlete presented a spare racket to his opponent from Uganda during a badminton event, and scenes of the athletes enjoying a colorful life at the Universiade village, learning about traditional Chinese culture, making friends and sharing their national badges.
Sichuan cuisine features in the closing ceremony of the 31st FISU Summer World University Games, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on August 8, 2023. /CFP
Dancers from Germany's Rhine-Ruhr region, the next host of the summer edition of the World University Games, appeared during the performance. They first staged competitive dance battles with young Chinese performers on opposite banks of the Rhine-Ruhr River, before the two groups crossed the river and danced as one to highlight the sporting spirit of solidarity and cooperation.
The closing ceremony lasted for 90 minutes.
A firework show lights up the skies during the finale of the closing ceremony of the 31st FISU Summer World University Games, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, on August 8, 2023. /CFP