CHENGDU, July 30 (Xinhua) -- A neuroscience graduate, Guzheng (guitar-like traditional Chinese instrument) player and beauty queen, the three identities are integrated into Katherine Wu, a 23-year-old Chinese American athlete at the Chengdu Universiade.
At the Modern Pentathlon Center Equestrian Arena, Wu is just an archer, fighting for the glory of herself and the country.
In the recurve women's individual knockout, Wu was beaten by China's archer Li Xinxin 6-0, but she did not burden herself with too much pressure.
"Of course, I want to win a gold medal like other competitors, but as long as I can do my best, I will be satisfied," she said.
Wu had already established friendship with her opponent before their battle. "When Xinxin knew she would face me in the competition, she joked with me 'Oh, no! It is you!' We did not know each other before the Universiade, but the event has made us friends," she said.
Wu started to learn archery at the age of 13. Her interest in archery originated from the movie The Hunger Games.
"There is no archery major in the university, so I have to train myself. I have a coach in San Francisco, but my university is in Texas. I travelled during summer and winter holidays for training," she said.
"It will be a bit busy for me, but I like travelling," she said. "At school I trained for three to four hours a day in average, but in the past two months, I trained for eight hours per day for the Universiade."
Though being an American native, Wu can speak fluent Chinese. She attributed her language ability to her parents' foresight to cultivate her to be bilingual.
"I studied at a Sino-U.S. international school from Grade One to Grade Eight. My parents always tell me how important it is to learn Chinese. I believe language can help me connect different cultures," said Wu.
Wu's parents and elder sister were all born in the United States, but her paternal and maternal grandfathers are from East China's Jiangsu Province and North China's Shandong Province respectively.
Her parents and sister also travelled with her from the United States to China, cheering her up during the competition and enjoying the Chengdu style of life at leisure time together with her.
"After the competition, I will go to watch pandas and taste local spicy food with my parents and sister," said Wu.
In Wu's view, Chengdu is a modern city filled with traditional Chinese culture. "I am always fascinated by Chinese culture. I learned Guzheng, Chinese dancing and ancient poems in my childhood. Playing Guzheng and wearing cheongsam helped me win a beauty contest for Chinese Americans," she said.
Wu has graduated from the neuroscience major of Rice University. She believes her hobby and future career can be integrated perfectly. "This year I will still focus on practicing archery. But for the long term, I may choose to be a doctor. Archery training helps me know about human's physical structure, which will make me a better doctor," Wu added. ■
