A delegation of Olympic champions from the Chinese mainland arrived in Macao on Saturday afternoon, following their visit to Hong Kong.
The delegation, including 59 gold medalists from the Paris Olympics, traveled via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and was greeted at the Macao Port by representatives of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR)Government, the Central Government Liaison Office in Macao, and over 100 students.
Among the star-studded athletes are table tennis champions Ma Long and Fan Zhendong, record-breaking swimmer Pan Zhanle, and defending diving champion Quan Hongchan.
Their three-day visit has generated widespread excitement across Macao, with 4,200 tickets for a large gala event featuring the athletes selling out instantly long before the visit.
Following the welcome ceremony, the delegation is scheduled to attend a banquet hosted by the Macao SAR Government on Saturday evening.
On Sunday morning, the Olympians will have exchanges with young athletes of Macao, sharing their Olympic stories and experiences.
In the afternoon, the athletes will visit three UNESCO World Heritage sites in Macao, including the A-Ma Temple Area, to explore the revitalization of Macao's historic districts and its unique cultural blend.
Later, the delegation will participate in a large gala event themed as "Our Pride" and visit local communities, to have close interactions with Macao residents.
Mainland Olympians arrive in Macao
Smoke from wildfires shrouding over many parts of Mato Grosso, the most severely impacted state by wildfires in Brazil, has caused discomfort among local residents as it persists due to prolonged heatwave.
According to statistics from the National Institute for Space Research, as of Friday, Brazil had recorded over 180,000 wildfires in 2024, with nearly 40,000 of them occurring in Mato Grosso state, ranking it first among all the states in Brazil.
Residents of Cuiaba, the capital of Mato Grosso, said while high temperatures and dry weather were typical in the city in previous years, the prolonged heatwave coupled with smoke this year is highly unusual.
"The smoke is worsening. The situation has been very dire over the past two months. We have not had rain for over 100 days. Low humidity, below 10 percent, is a huge problem, necessitating extensive use of humidifiers for us," said Guilherme Rodrigues Mendes, a resident.
"The weather is quite bad. I feel terrible. I have been sick at least three times. My throat is extremely dry, leading to coughing and feeling nauseous," said Navai, another resident.
According to the local fire department, 1,000 firefighters are battling fires across multiple locations in Mato Grosso. The state encompasses three vital biomes -- the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado savannah, and the Pantanal wetlands. Currently, the fires in the Pantanal wetlands are largely contained, yet numerous active fire points persist in the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savannah.
Wildfire smoke in Brazil's Mato Grosso state causes discomfort among locals
