On Saturday night, a five-person team of the Chinese e-sports club, with the full name EDward Gaming, won the 2021 League of Legends World Championship in Reykjavik , Iceland , beating defending champion Damwon KIA (DK) from South Korea. The live streaming of the championship had over 200 million viewers on two major domestic smartphone apps and other channels.
The team has taken the opportunity to share Chinese culture with the world. At the beginning of the championship, the members of EDG and other staff displayed tai chi, martial arts and traditional Chinese costumes in Reykjavik, launching a "Chinese hurricane" in the Icelandic capital. Now the posting of photos and videos on social networks have spread that hurricane to the whole world.
With the popularity of digital technology, new forms of cultural exchanges have been appearing, of which e-sports are of the hottest. Unlike texts and videos, e-sports go beyond the barriers of language and are understandable around the world.
Also e-sports appeal most to those in their early 20s, as shown by the carnival of college students on Saturday night. That in turn makes them a good bridge of communication between Chinese youngsters and their counterparts (同行) around the world. More importantly, the e-sports industry is sustainable (可持续的) in spreading Chinese culture, as the large audiences mean huge commercial potential. In 2020 alone, the sales profit of the domestic e-sports industry went beyond $ 43.56 billion, and involved 280,000 companies, which in tum created over 10 million jobs.
As early as 2019, Hainan province announced its ambitious plan of building an international e-sports center. On Nov 5, the Organizing Committee of the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou city, announced it had listed eight e-sports as events in the Games. Both show the strong policy support being given to e-sports.
With more Chinese star gaming clubs and teams appearing, the industry is expected to boom and continue spreading Chinese culture to the world.
