Chinese athletes feeling at home in Leeds

Leeds - Chinese athletes have found a home away from home in the British city of Leeds, their pre-Olympics training base.

Not only are they given exclusive training facilities and comfortable beds, but their food will be taken care of, with the likes of gongbao chicken, steamed pork buns, roast beef, roast pork, cold salads and fruits on the daily menu.

"We want to closely replicate what the athletes would have on an average training day at their camps in Beijing," said Matthew Davison, Olympic program officer at the University of Leeds, on Monday.

Eight teams and about 250 athletes, coaches and support staff are staying in Leeds for seven to 14 days in July and August to acclimate to British conditions before heading to the Olympic Village in London.

This May, the University of Leeds sent two chefs to Beijing to learn about cooking Chinese food from the executive chef at the Chinese Olympic Committee’s headquarters. The three chefs are now together cooking for the Chinese teams in Leeds.

Volunteers from the Leeds University pose at a venue in Leeds. [Photo by Cecily Liu]

Ingredients for the dishes are sourced locally. Many meat products come straight from farms, and some Chinese cooking sauces are supplied by local Chinese supermarkets.

Hsu Jen-hsien, a volunteer translator working in the university's kitchen, said that the athletes' buffet has about 10 different dishes, and the cooks watch to see which dishes are most popular before making more of them.

"The Chinese chef's role is to monitor the quality of the food, making sure that they taste authentic. He also makes two or three dishes himself every meal, which I believe are the tastiest of them all," he said.

Currently there are 15 kitchen staffs (or staff) preparing food for the Chinese team, who are divided into teams of preparing the food, cooking and dish washing.

"I'm amazed by the amount of order they've demonstrated. I'm also stunned by how clean their kitchen is. The tables are spotless, and the floor is completely dry," Hsu said.

Originally from Taiwan, Hsu came to Leeds two years ago to pursue a PhD in marketing.

"I applied to become a volunteer because I am a fan of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and I wanted to work as their team attaché. I was disappointed when I realized that the women’s volleyball team is not coming to Leeds, but, nevertheless, I like my job in the kitchen," he said.

The Chinese athletes are staying at the University of Leeds’ student dormitory. Each person has a single en-suite room, and every five people share a living room with a television, sofa and self-catering facilities.

They also have access to table tennis and pool tables and message facilities inside the dormitory.

However, the training camp does have rules. For example, the athletes are not permitted to wander alone off-campus for security reasons.

According to Zhou Weiqiong, a volunteer at the training camp, the athletes are also forbidden to drink tap water, or bottled water once is has been opened and left out of sight.

Hsu and Zhou are among 150 volunteers the Leeds Council recruited to assist the Chinese athletes as team attaches, hosts and translators.

Another volunteer is Marie Tullock, a third-year Mandarin student at the university. "I'm so excited about my new job, as it'll be a good opportunity to practice my Mandarin," she said.

As a table tennis team attaché, Tullock is with the players for eight hours a day to guide them around campus and ensure that training runs smoothly. "If there is any lost property, or if anyone is ill, then I am responsible for reporting it to the university," she said.

Leeds was announced as the city to host China’s pre-Olympic training camp last August by the Chinese Olympic Committee.

Leeds Council leader Keith Wakefield said to host the Chinese athletes was "a historic and magnificent achievement" for the city.

The city is expected to receive an initial benefit of $400,000, including money paid by the COC and expected tourism income.

Leeds is also hosting athletes from the United States, Serbia, Canada and the Netherlands.