The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 successfully concluded on the evening of October 8th, 2023.
In the 16 days of the event, more than 10,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions in Asia gathered on the bank of the Qiantang River, to unite, communicate, and forge friendships. China has achieved remarkable feats, setting new record with 201 gold, 111 silver and 71 bronze medals.
The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 marks the third time China has hosted the Asiad, following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.
Prof Zhan Cheng from School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University was invited to assist the recruitment of interpreters at the preparatory stage of the Hangzhou Asian Games and worked as a consultant interpreter himself for 16 consecutive days during the event. He led Li Xu and Zhang Han, his two PhD students, in providing precise and professional language services, and spreading the “Voice of SYSU” at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Prof Zhan Cheng in Hangzhou Asian Games Village
Dedication to Public Services as an Interpreter
According to Prof Zhan, his work for the Asian Games was divided into two parts: firstly, he devoted himself to the recruitment and organization of the Chinese and English interpreting teams. A total of 53 interpreters were finally recruited through on-site or online tests. Secondly, he provided interpretation service for the Games. Before the event was officially opened, he provided simultaneous interpretation for Chefs de Mission Meeting and the Chief Medical Officer Meeting. During the event from 23 September to 8 October, he provided simultaneous and consecutive interpretation for the post-competition press conferences of a number of different disciplines, such as Wushu, Football, Badminton and Martial Arts.
Prof Zhan Cheng at Wushu post-competition press conference
“The Asian Games requires interpretation at its utmost professional level, so the interpreters are faced with challenging tasks at highly charged scenarios”, said Prof Zhan. The language services team thus need to familiarize themselves with the operation of the Asian Games and the terminology of different events. They should also proficiently operate remote simultaneous interpretation devices, manage relay interpreting, and master the accents and speeds of speakers from different countries and regions. “As behind-the-scenes workers, we should be fully committed, show solid professionalism and complete professionalism, so that we can be ‘present’ and ‘invisible’ at the same time.”
Prof Zhan Cheng at Main Media Centre of the Hangzhou Asian Games
In fact, the Asian Games is not the first major international sport event that Prof Zhan Cheng has worked for. As early as 2008, he was seconded by the Olympic Organizing Committee to work as the Translation Manager in the Olympic Village Mayor’s Office during the Beijing Olympic Games. He worked in the Beijing Olympic/Paralympic Village for three months and was the full-time interpreter for the Mayor of the Beijing Olympic/Paralympic Village. In that capacity, he took part in the receptions for nearly 50 heads of state and VVIPs. From then on, his career became inextricably bound up with sport events. He worked as an interpreter for the Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, Shenzhen Universiade in 2011 and Nanjing Youth Olympic Games in 2014, contributing his share to the successful holding of each event.
Prof Zhan Cheng in the Beijing Olympic Village in 2008
Talking about his experience of the Asian Games, Prof Zhan said, “I deeply feel that compared with the Beijing Olympic Games 15 years ago and the Guangzhou Asian Games 13 years ago, the Hangzhou Asian Games, as an Asiad of the largest scale, most extensive range of events, and widest coverage in history, has obviously showcased stronger confidence, progress and culture of a great nation.” He believes that the efficient organization of the event, the provision of adequate social resources, the green and low-carbon concept in running the event, and the extensive use of high-tech have all demonstrated the new progress and momentum in the path of pursuing modernization with Chinese characteristics.
Prof Zhan Cheng has been providing public services as an interpreter for more than 20 years.
Integration of Interpreting Training, Research and Practice
While moving forward in his interpreting career, Prof Zhan is also devoted to training junior interpreters. On this journey in Hangzhou, Li Xu and Zhang Han, his PhD students, works respectively as a member of and an assistant to the interpreting team.
From left to right: Zhang Han, Prof Zhan Cheng and Li Xu, at the Language Services Centre of the Hangzhou Asian Games
Prof Zhan Cheng has trained many excellent interpreters. He has always insisted on the “integration of knowledge and practice”, combining training, research and practice of interpreting. He believes that “we should give full play to our professional expertise in large-scale activities to fulfil the responsibility of SYSU to serve the national strategy and promote social development, and accumulate experience in high-profile international exchange activities, which can, in turn, promote our teaching and research.” The School of Foreign Languages has been highlighting the development of disciplines, which leads to the increasing improvement of the school’s management capacity and teaching quality. In response, Prof Zhan emphasized that interpreting is not simply about conversion between different languages, while interpreters can by no means be equated to machines. That is why he believes that the training of interpreters should follow the university’s guideline of “cultivating innovative talents with excellent power of learning, thinking and action”. It is suggested by him that students who aspire to work as interpreters should focus on general education and character building, and the key to success lies in diligent learning, thinking and action.
“Being able to personally participate in the language services of the Hangzhou Asian Games and witnessing many touching and unforgettable moments is a valuable experience in my life, as well as an opportunity to showcase and improve my professional skills.”
The Future
Prof Zhan Cheng, together with his students, will continue his dedication to public service, and spread the Voice of SYSU to the international community.
