Asian Games Village warms global delegates

[Photo/Ningbo Evening News]

The sub-village of the 19th Asian Games in Ningbo, Zhejiang province is building itself a home away from home for athletes and officials during their stay in the city.

Staff of the village planned a birthday surprise, which includes a cake, a special meal, a greeting card, and a gift, for Stephanie Norton, a dinghy sailor from Hong Kong, on Sept 18. Norton was the first athlete to spend her birthday in the village.

"Many athletes and officials will spend their birthdays in the village during the Games. That's why we prepared celebration services for them," said Shi Jianding, deputy commander of the Ningbo sub-village.

Shi said that the village is a "home away from home" for the nearly 400 athletes and officials during their stay in Ningbo.

To give them a taste of Chinese culture, an exhibition area with more than 70 intangible cultural heritage artworks was launched in the village. A DIY area was also set up to teach them about  local intangible cultural heritage techniques such as dough modeling and fish printing.

"The Chinese cultural activities make our lives in the village more interesting," said an official of the Indian team.