(ECNS) -- The 2026 Chengdu-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Vitality Week opened in Chengdu on Monday, bringing together 66 students and teachers from the three regions for a week-long exchange built around drone soccer, an emerging tech-driven sport.
Drone soccer is an aerial competitive sport in which teams pilot drones and score by flying them through the opposing goal, blending technology, competition and teamwork.
Coach Liu Tao, who offered on-site guidance throughout the event, said players were deliberately mixed into teams drawn from all three regions, so they could get to know one another and form friendships through joint training and friendly matches.
Cheng Haonan, a student at Hou Kong Middle School in Macao, said, "It's not just about speed, but also tactics and chemistry. I hope we can work well together as a team."
Wong Chun Hin, a student at Hong Kong's Lok Sin Tong Ku Chiu Man Secondary School, said the sport proved tougher than he had expected. Beyond sharpening tactics with his teammates, he hopes to explore Chengdu and see how the city blends ancient Shu culture with modern technology.
Playing host, Huang Xintian, a student at Sichuan Shuangliu Middle School, put together a list of local sights to share with her Hong Kong and Macao peers between sessions. "Chengdu has both a rich cultural heritage and a vibrant tech innovation scene," she said, adding that she hoped to bond with her new friends through training and exploring the city together.
"We speak Mandarin with different accents and grew up in different cities, but our cultural roots are the same," said Guan Jiamei, another student at Hou Kong Middle School in Macao. She said she would take what she had learned and experienced in Chengdu back home to Macao.
(By Tang Yuxian)
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