Chengdu, the host city of the 2025 World Games in southwest China's Sichuan, has been providing an array of unique experiences for athletes and tourists from across the world during the competition.

Running from Aug 7 to 17, the Chengdu World Games has featured more than 256 events across 60 disciplines in 34 sports, with a record-breaking 6,679 participants from 116 countries and regions taking part, including 3,942 athletes.

Alongside thrilling competitions, athletes of the Games from around the globe have immersed themselves in rich cultural experiences inside the Games Village, where traditional Chinese arts and heritage have taken center stage.

At the Village's special cultural bazaar, handicrafts made from traditional bamboo weaving and Chengdu's intricate silver filigree techniques have drawn enthusiastic crowds each evening.

In addition to picking out handmade souvenirs for friends and family, athletes tried their hands at making the crafts themselves, experiencing the meticulous artistry behind them.

"Weaving bamboo is really a lot of work, which I found out when I tried it myself. For a beginner, it's very challenging to weave strips that are just one millimeter wide," said Fabian Holbach, a German athlete.

The calligraphy and painting section of the bazaar has been another highlight. Some athletes translated their names into Chinese characters and carefully wrote them on paper with Chinese calligraphy brushes and took them home as souvenirs, while others practiced traditional Chinese landscape and bird-and-flower paintings under the guidance of local artists.

"This is my first time in China. The people are as nice as I expected, so that's a nice bonus. I really like it here. Big thank you for organizing everything, like the teacher is here teaching me, the painting, we've done the name writing, everything is beautiful," said Gertrude de Vries, a staff member from the Dutch delegation.

In the village's traditional Chinese medicine experience area, massage and bone-setting services are especially popular among athletes as the event draws to close as they can ease pain and restoring strength.

Meanwhile, a cultural exhibition is running at the city’s historic Kuanzhai Alley, offering a vibrant blend of sports and culture to locals and visitors alike. It showcases more than 100 exhibits themed around sports, pandas, golden snub-nosed monkeys, and the World Games itself.

"I like the visual exhibition parts where it's videos and retrospective imagery that shows how the game's developed and the historical background from it," said a German visitor at the exhibition.

Since opening on July 24, the exhibition has received over 200,000 visitors and will remain open until Aug 23.