BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- With two days to go from the closing of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, athletes and overseas personnel have shared their wonderful experiences in China during the Games, which is set to become lasting warm memories to them.
CHINESE NEW YEAR AND FOODS
As the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games coincided with the Chinese New Year, it has given American luger Summer Britcher a chance to learn more about Chinese traditional culture.
"They have a whole cultural center (in Olympic village) actually, so we can learn a little bit, and there was a lot about traditional Chinese herbs, that was cool to learn about," Britcher said.
Living in the Yanqing Olympic Village, Britcher was enthusiastic about sharing things that impressed her, such as the smart bed.
"I have something incredible to share. Not only do we not have cardboard beds here, but it's as if the Beijing organizing committee said, 'how can we just absolutely one-up Tokyo?'" said Britcher in a video she posted online.
She told Xinhua that the closed-loop life was good. "It's important to keep everyone safe, the people that live here and the athletes, so the closed-loop is a good thing."
Although the closed-loop management means that athletes have no chance of going around the city or having Chinese snacks on the streets, athletes are ensured to have a taste of Chinese flavors as some Chinese foods offered in the Olympic village, including the fried Chinese leek dumplings, red bean bun, Chinese beef noodles among others, are high on many Olympians' menus.
After the flower ceremony of the women's freeski slopestyle at Beijing 2022, Olympic champion Gu Ailing told Xinhua that she would go back to the Olympic Village to have some black sesame stuffed "tangyuan," a traditional delicacy for celebrating the Lantern Festival.
Snowboarder Jenise Spiteri, the only Olympian representing Malta, brought many Chinese people to know more about her country after she became popular on Chinese social media.
She is now dubbed the "red bean bun lady" in China, after the scene was livestreamed globally where she took a flattened bun out of her competition suit pocket and had a big bite with a huge smile during the break of her halfpipe qualifying run.
Moreover, beef noodles were favorite Chinese food in the Olympic village for German bobsledder Laura Nolte as well as Italian luger Emanuel Rieder.
"Compared with Italian noodles, Chinese noodles are more delicious," Rieder said.
CONTRIBUTIONS
Ruan Zhonggang, communication manager of the National Sliding Center, was diagnosed a thyroid nodule in September 2021.
However, the 37-year-old decided to postpone his surgery because of the Beijing 2022 test events in less than one month.
In a short break between the two events, Ruan planned to go to the hospital for treatment, but had to reschedule it again.
A broadcaster came up with a new request for live streaming. As Ruan is the only person to be familiar with everything in the venue, he had to help workers build more facilities to cater to broadcasters' needs, according to Yang Guangyan, technical manager of the National Sliding Center.
A small closed-loop system was in place for the National Alpine Skiing Center at the beginning of January 2022.
"We were pressed on time, as we hadn't established internet facilities completely at that time," recalled Zhang Hui, deputy technical manager of the venue.
Because of the COVID-19 countermeasures, Chinese workers out of the closed-loop should do their jobs in an environment separated from international personnel. Zhang and his colleagues adjusted their schedule and finished the construction of all 1,400 related facilities on time.
Michelle Andrea, an international volunteer in the Yanqing Olympic Village, thought that she enjoys her best time in life at the Winter Olympics.
"Volunteering definitely keeps me on my toes, and I've got the feeling of involvement that has been provided," she said.
"It gives me the feeling that I am an unsung hero to somebody somewhere. It is a great learning experience," Andrea added.