Chinese athletes at home with Italian ways in Milan

It's not quite the miantiao, or noodles, back home, but Chinese speed skater Ning Zhongyan is more than happy to dig into a generous helping of pasta pomodoro with a side of rocket salad tossed in balsamic dressing at the Olympic Village in Milan, proving that when in Italy, he is all for doing things the Italian way, at least in the dining hall.

For the nearly 1,600 athletes participating in the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, settling into the Games Village that has been built over a former rail yard in Milan's southern suburbs, embracing the host's warm hospitality, and blending in with the multicultural crowd at the village, while adding their own cultural vibes, is proving to be the perfect combination for a complete Olympic experience.

"I am okay with pasta, and to be honest, I think it (Italian food) has a lot in common with Chinese food," Ning said after being spotted at his table during a media tour of the village on Thursday.

For the men's 1,000m and 1,500m medal contender, eating tried and tested food, instead of sampling tempting and exotic cuisines, is key to consistent performance when jetting around the globe to race on the International Skating Union's World Cup circuit.

The Winter Olympics provide athletes a once-in-four-years opportunity to mingle with a large and diverse sporting fraternity over a period of two weeks. It is also the time when they can indulge in tasting a huge variety of cuisines on offer, secure in the knowledge that strict quality control means everything is safe to eat, making it one of the Games' most enjoyable aspects for Olympians.

Up to 4,500 individual meal portions are being prepared each day at the Milan village, with kitchen staff and volunteers cooking 10,000 eggs?and approximately?450 kilograms of pasta daily, according to Elisabetta Salvadori, the head of food and beverage services on the Milano-Cortina 2026 organizing committee.

"What we always say is 'food is fuel', which means to be sure that we are offering the athletes the things they actually need," she said. "This is the baseline, and then, on top of that, we try to introduce different dishes — some not so elaborate, and others that are more fancy.

"So we always have, for example, plain rice and plain pasta. But then we have pasta ragu, which is a step up, and pasta pomodoro. And then, once a day, we could have lasagne, cannelloni, and things like that," she said.

With the food taken care of, organizers and sponsoring partners have also gone out of their way to ensure that the athletes are suitably entertained during their stay and there is an element of fun in the proceedings.

The innovative pin-trading booth in the village has emerged as one of the most popular attractions, with its artificial intelligence-controlled, game-like interface powered by Chinese technology giant Alibaba.

Once the program is activated, a robotic hand collects a pin donated by a visiting athlete that the staff have already placed inside a plastic ball, and puts it into a pile of other balls behind a glass panel before picking a new one — remotely controlled via the athlete's hand gestures — as an exchange.

There is also a plant shop that offers athletes houseplants to nurture during their stay, a beauty booth where athletes can get their makeup done, enjoy scalp massages and hair styling, and a gaming center featuring foosball, air hockey and virtual reality simulators.

"It never gets dull here, with so many activities going on and a lot of fun stuff to do, it helps us release stress pretty well," said Chinese figure skater Han Cong.

A little bit of the feel of home, which is usually absent during Han and Ning's regular hotel stops when on ISU duty, also helps, and it is here that the staff members of the Chinese delegation step in.

Since the first group of athletes checked into the village on Jan 30, the building housing Team China has had red flags draped on the walls and fluttering from flagpoles in the winter air, while giant stickers of cartoon pandas have appeared everywhere, attracting international athletes to visit their Chinese colleagues' home away from home.

For those interested in Chinese culture, the China House pop-up experience has been launched at Villa Clerici as a hub for cultural experience activities and demonstrations, such as calligraphy, traditional embroidery and porcelain arts.

The hospitality and cultural display facility in Milan is open to all athletes and the public, with admission free but based on prior reservation.