Chengdu World University Games 
Host City: Chengdu, China
Dates: August 6

The giant panda, sporting flame-shaped ears, tails, and eyes, “Rongbao”, the official mascot of the Chengdu FISU games has charmed every participant that has come in close contact with it.

Let it be buying products that are branded with it or visiting the panda base tour that has been designed by the Organizing Committee as a  sideline activity for student-athletes besides competing in the official games, it is more than what meets the eye.

Southwest China’s Sichuan is the hometown of giant pandas. The capital city of Chengdu is the only large metropolis in the world where both captive and wild pandas can be found.

The Chengdu Games Organizing Committee chose panda to showcase the unique charm of “Panda City” to the world while presenting a sporting feast for athletes and guests. 

Uganda’s Student representative at Africa University sports, Emmanuel Aupal said Uganda can emulate how Chengdu is using its culture to market the country.

“What makes the Chengdu games unique is that it is more about culture. They are telling their story, who they are, and what they believe in and I think using a panda as an animal was a great way to tell the story,” Aupal added.

“I am now a huge fan of Rongbao, the mascot for the games, it is so cute and precious,” he added.

“For Uganda, we do not have to choose an animal, it can be something else. Uganda is blessed with an abundance of things that we can choose from, as long it is unique, it can be used to market the country and our sports,” he added.

More than 1,000 licensed Rongbao items, spread across 18 types of products, are on sale including collectible toy Figures, notebooks, pens, glass water flasks, and many others are available at over 400 souvenir shops across China.

“We’ve been given gifts branded with the panda. I have bought some souvenirs and you can not resist buying them when you see them in the stores because they are that attractive,” Aupal noted.

Diacounda Sene, a member of the International Sports Press Association told Vision Sport that she has created lifelong memories while in Chengdu.

“To be honest with you, I have never seen a panda. So I was excited to see it because I did not it even existed and that for me is a lifetime memory,” Sene said.

“Panda is their friendly animal and they used that to tell the world that they are friendly, inclusive, welcoming, and loving people,” she stated.

Sene stressed that Africa can use a similar strategy to change the narrative about African culture.

“When you tell people you are from Africa, they ask you, do you have lions, elephants, leopards, and so on? Like they think, Africa only has wild animals, which is a wrong perception,” the Senegalese noted.

“I think that when Africa hosts big tournaments, they can use the platform to sell their unique story, a story that other people do not know about,” Sene advised.
According to the fourth national panda survey, Sichuan is home to 1,387 wild giant pandas, accounting for 74.4 percent of China’s total giant panda population.