At the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, a special pavilion has been set up in Paris to offer visitors a fascinating glimpse into China's long history and rich culture as well as its sports exchanges with France amid many fun interactive activities.
Inaugurated on July 24, the China House is a special pavilion built at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris, which is open until August 10.
The launch of the house has been a routine effort by the Chinese Olympic Committee since the first "China hut" was set up during the 2004 Athens Olympics.
The pavilion is an incredible blend of East and West with classic French architecture meeting with Chinese sculptures and paintings.
It also showcases China-France exchanges in the field of sports with photos and other exhibits
"In 2021, Chinese Olympic diving champion Zhang Jiaqi and French football star Kylian Mbappe jointly attended the naming ceremony of two giant panda cubs in France. They were named as Huan Lili and Yuan Dudu. The letter 'Li' is named after Chinese translation for 'Paris'," said Xu Yiran, a tour guide for the China House.
Breakdancing is a new medal event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Last year, the Chinese national breaking team was invited to Paris to participate in various promotion and exchange activities for the sport, according to Xu.
She noted French coaches' contributions to the development of sports events such as fencing in China as well as the rising popularity of Chinese martial arts in France.
"Chinese martial arts have now become very popular in France. The two countries have also held many sports events for enhancing bilateral exchanges in the areas of women's football, basketball and table tennis," Xu also said.
At the China House, visitors also get the chance to experience earlier forms of modern sports such as Chuiwan, an ancient Chinese ball-striking game similar to golf, and pitch-pot, a traditional Chinese game that requires players to throw arrows or sticks from a set distance into a receptacle, which is like a prototype of archery.
"China has a strong sporting tradition, which I admire very much," said Bernard Mariette, a French visitor.
"I was able to try Chinese golf and it is also very interesting to throw arrows [into a pot]. We have seen many demonstrations of the cooperation [between France and China] in sports, which has existed for about 60 years," said another French visitor named Mabel Gbedje.
Special pavilion showcases China's rich culture, sports exchanges with France
