In July 2024, An Yue and Hou Sixun, two students from the Department of French and Francophone Studies of Dalian University of Foreign Languages, arrived in France and started their journey as volunteers for the Paris Olympics. They were successfully selected into the list of 27 Chinese university volunteers at the Olympics, standing out from numerous applicants.

During the Olympics, the principal responsibility for An Yue is to assist and provide International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, representatives of various national Olympic committees, athletes and their entourages with information and language services. Hou Sixun is mainly responsible for providing translation services to various national delegations, as well as the coordination between delegations and the Olympic Committee.

An and Hou both felt a friendly and inclusive atmosphere in the Olympic Village. Hou could still recall his encounter with a Zambian athlete, saying “When he knew I am Chinese, he began to yearn for his life in Tianjin and was glad to say ‘ni hao’ to me.”

As volunteers, they also cheered for the Chinese athletes after completing their work. On July 30, at the Arena Paris Sud, An witnessed the exciting moment when Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin won the gold medal in the table tennis mixed doubles final.

The 2024 Paris Olympics is not only an international sports gala, but also a bridge for cultural exchange. In their suitcases, An packed auspicious Chinese knots, while Hou brought panda badges. After arriving in Paris, they exchanged these small gifts with volunteers from other countries, forging deep friendships with them.