Hundreds of electric vehicles ferry athletes to the Asian Games Athletes’ Village in Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, while a robot helps guide them at the main media center. There’s no traffic on the roads, and none of the smog that fills Beijing and other Chinese cities. The stadium, which uses electricity generated by windmills and solar power instead of coal, was lit up at night with colorful lights to increase the excitement of the Games.
The local atmosphere is electric at the Hangzhou Asian Games, China’s third Asian Games after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. Chinese media, including the People’s Daily and the English-language China Daily, have been hailing the Games as “the largest sporting event to be held in China since the COVID-19 pandemic.” As the home of Alibaba, the world’s largest online retailer, Hangzhou is aiming for a high-tech, low-carbon and environmentally friendly Asian Games. “We will make full use of Hangzhou’s digital advantages to showcase innovative technologies throughout the preparations for the Asian Games to ensure an unforgettable sporting event,” said Chen Weicang, Secretary General of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee. 바카라사이트
China has gone to great lengths to host the Hangzhou Asian Games. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China’s Zhejiang Province, the country invested 224.8 billion yuan ($41.24 trillion) in infrastructure alone to host the Games. The scale of support for the Games, including more than 40,000 volunteers and a 50,000-square-meter main media center, is reminiscent of China’s “barrel-sized scale. Choi Yoon, head of the Korean athletes’ team, said, “The athletes’ village is comfortable. The facilities are definitely better than the Tokyo Olympics two years ago. It looks like the organizers have done a lot of preparation.”
It is also noticeable that the organization has reduced the number of new buildings and the emphasis on quantity. It is trying to hold the Asian Games differently from the previous ones by overhauling the system that incorporates new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data.
More than 2,000 electric vehicles are being used in the Athletes’ Village, Media Village, and other facilities where officials stay. Among the electric vehicles is a bus that allows visitors to tour and experience major facilities in the village through augmented reality (AR). Inside the media center, robots will guide visitors through the facilities and promote the Games.
Along with new technology, the Hangzhou Asian Games are also about being low-carbon and environmentally friendly. In November last year, the organizers announced that they were “declaring the first ever zero-waste Asian Games”. New stadium construction was minimized. Only 12 of the 56 venues are new. Most of the venues will be recycled into future sports facilities for local residents. There were a number of ideas to make the Games more environmentally friendly. More than 75,000 shared bicycles have been deployed to reduce the number of cars on the roads. The eSports venues and swimming pools will be solar-powered for in-venue lighting. Some of the water for the aquatic venues, which will host rowing and canoeing, was recycled from rainwater. Events are also organized to help participants go carbon neutral. In the accommodation for athletes, staff and media, we have an event vending machine where people can put empty plastic bottles in the vending machine and receive a gift based on the points they earn. The press center will provide online and mobile coverage of all events instead of paper.
There will be no fireworks at the Asian Games opening ceremony on Aug. 23. Instead, so-called “electronic fireworks” will be used, utilizing new digital technologies such as three-dimensional animation and AR. “We will stick to the philosophy of going green for the opening ceremony,” said Siaolan. We will break the tradition of setting off fireworks,” he said, adding, “It will convey our philosophy of environmental protection.” The opening ceremony will be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-soo and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, among other dignitaries. Hangzhou, a city of 12 million people, is hoping to reap the “Asian Games effect” by hosting a successful Games.
“More than 20 million people are expected to visit Hangzhou during the three weeks of the Asian Games,” the organizers said today.