In the height of summer in Beijing, the charm of the abacus flowed far and wide. The 2026 9th Competition of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (WAAMA) concluded successfully. This event brought together elites, was orderly in organization, and was filled with warmth. It was not only a professional competitive gathering for abacus and mental arithmetic enthusiasts worldwide, but also an important platform for inheriting Chinese intangible cultural heritage, connecting industry exchanges at home and abroad, and supporting the growth of young people. The WAAMA Organizing Committee made meticulous preparations throughout and provided considerate and detailed services, which made our contestants, coaches, and accompanying parents feel deeply cared for, and allowed them to gain honours, growth, and precious fellow friendships through competition and cultural immersion.

This competition was professionally organized and standardized, with warmth evident in every detail. On the evening of July 24, the Organizing Committee convened a pre-competition special meeting for team leaders and coaches of all delegations, clearly breaking down the competition procedures, rules, and time nodes, in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere. The venue set up a special thematic exhibition area for abacus intangible cultural heritage, displaying many precious abacus artifacts and systematically presenting the thousand-year development of the abacus, allowing participants to experience the cultural depth of this intangible heritage in an immersive way. At the same time, the Organizing Committee provided each team leader, coach, and contestant with a dedicated conference tote, along with the professional publications The Amazing Chinese Zhusuan: History Volume and The Amazing Chinese Zhusuan: Comprehensive Volume, helping everyone consolidate their professional foundation and deepen their cultural understanding. The thorough pre-competition preparations and thoughtful cultural empowerment fully demonstrated WAAMA's mature organizational standards and deep industry commitment, and also made the Hong Kong team, which had traveled far to Beijing, feel greatly reassured.

The entire competition combined professionalism with a humanistic sense of ceremony. Before the competition on July 25, we organized contestants to conduct warm-up exercises, adjusting their state comprehensively from mindset regulation to tactile activation, helping the children greet the competition in their best physical and mental condition. Before the formal entry, the Organizing Committee made scientific overall arrangements and staggered exclusive photo sessions for each team, allowing every delegation to capture their moment of departure in an orderly manner and preserve their own competition memories. This humanized and thoughtful arrangement allowed contestants and parents to truly feel the care of the competition, and also added a warm sense of ceremony to the intense competitive event.

This competition had strict selection standards and a very high entry threshold. Contestants from all regions had gone through rounds of selection and were chosen on merit to gather in Beijing and compete together. In the competition hall, abacus and mental arithmetic youngsters from around the world were calm, focused, and accurate in their answers, fully demonstrating solid professional foundations and outstanding stress resistance. During the intervals of the award ceremony, the Organizing Committee carefully created special performance segments, with live flash calculation performances and robot mental calculation presented in turn, deeply integrating traditional abacus skills with modern technology, allowing the ancient intangible heritage to radiate new vitality of the times and vividly demonstrating the development trend of abacus and mental arithmetic culture advancing with the times.

 The Association of Professional Abacus Education (HK) Limited, Hong Kong SAR, China, wins the Grand Prize in the Group B Team Contest

In competition there are winners and losers, but in growth there are no regrets. In this competition, our association's team united their strength and fought bravely, successfully winning the Grand Prize in the Group B Team Contest (Group B Team Champion). During the competition, one of our core seeded contestants suddenly fell ill, and their on-site performance did not reach their usual level, so the team's total score did not break the previous record, leaving a slight regret. But the competition field is also a classroom for growth. In competition there are no perpetual champions; on-site physical and mental condition, environmental changes, and psychological adjustment are all important components of the event. The children gave their all, accepted gains and losses calmly, and learned resilience, facing setbacks directly, and tolerance and letting go through the competition. This transformation and growth of character is far more precious than trophies and honours, and also allowed accompanying parents to deeply witness the children's maturity and progress.

 Exchange with Fu Haidong, a previous WAAMA competition champion

The most precious gain from this participation was the exchange and mutual learning among top talents and the broadening of industry horizons. During the competition, two previous world-level abacus and mental arithmetic champions rarely gathered on the same stage, recognizing each other's merits. One was Fu Haidong, a previous WAAMA competition champion, skilled in 8-digit rapid flash calculation and known for extreme speed; the other was Li Zijun, an outstanding contestant cultivated by our association, who had won the overall championship in a previous international abacus and mental arithmetic competition held in Malaysia, specializing in 14-digit, 3-term abacus listening calculation and with high-digit accurate listening calculation as his core strength. The two top young contestants had different technical strengths that complemented each other, and they exchanged training insights and shared practical experience. This on-stage exchange fully confirmed that Hong Kong SAR's abacus and mental arithmetic education is aligned with international standards and possesses world-class competitive level, demonstrating the solid strength of our association's intangible cultural heritage cultivation system. 

Exchange with Professor Chen Feiyan of Zhejiang University

During the competition, I had the privilege of having in-depth exchanges with Professor Chen Feiyan of Zhejiang University, a leading scholar in the brain science of abacus and mental arithmetic, and benefited greatly. Professor Chen Feiyan has devoted herself to brain science research on abacus and mental arithmetic for more than 20 years. Her team, through a large number of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain imaging controlled experiments, confirmed that long-term standardized abacus and mental arithmetic training can effectively optimize children's brain structure, enhance brain neural activity, and significantly strengthen children's concentration, memory, logical thinking, and self-control abilities, confirming from a modern scientific perspective the core value of abacus and mental arithmetic in enlightening the mind and educating people. Relying on this authoritative scientific research, we have continued to dispel Hong Kong parents' one-sided perception of abacus and mental arithmetic as "merely a rapid calculation technique," enabling more families to recognize the educational value of abacus intangible cultural heritage, and laying a solid grassroots foundation for the popularization and inheritance of abacus intangible cultural heritage in Hong Kong.

The competition ended, but inheritance continues. The WAAMA Organizing Committee thoughtfully organized an intangible cultural heritage study activity, leading delegations into the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum. The ancient traditional engraving craft in the museum allowed the children to personally experience ancient techniques and touch the cultural vein of intangible heritage, deeply understanding the historical value and cultural weight of the abacus as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. During the visit, we reunited with the Presidents of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Associations from Korea and Indonesia, with whom we have been acquainted for more than ten years. Over the years, we have participated together in various international abacus competitions around the world, and this reunion in Beijing felt especially warm. All participants exchanged teaching models, talent cultivation, and competition development experience in depth, using the abacus as a bridge to further elevate Chinese intangible cultural heritage on the international stage.

The post-competition self-arranged visits to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Summer Palace, as well as Beijing specialty cuisine arrangements, all enriched our cultural experience in the capital.

When drinking water, remember its source; be grateful to those who walk with you. Here, on behalf of the Association of Professional Abacus Education (HK) Limited, Hong Kong SAR, China, I sincerely thank the WAAMA for its meticulous coordination and warm services. This competition built a high-quality platform for global abacus and mental arithmetic practitioners and young people to compete fairly, learn and advance together, and inherit cultural heritage. From pre-competition preparations, mid-competition coordination, to post-competition cultural empowerment, every detail demonstrated professional commitment and humanistic care, allowing every delegation that traveled from afar to come with joy and return with a full harvest. At the same time, we thank every contestant who gave their all and bravely pursued their dreams, upholding their original aspiration with love; and we thank every parent who quietly accompanied and fully supported them, witnessing every trial and growth of their children.

The thousand-year cultural vein of the abacus is passed down through generations of craftsmanship. This journey to Beijing for the competition was a competitive trial, but also a precious cultivation of cultural immersion, spiritual growth, and broadening of horizons. In the future, the Association of Professional Abacus Education (HK) Limited, Hong Kong SAR, China, will remain true to its original aspiration of intangible cultural heritage inheritance, optimize its teaching system based on authoritative brain science research, deepen the popularization of abacus and mental arithmetic education, continue to promote cultural exchange and mutual learning among Hong Kong, Macao, the Chinese mainland, and the international abacus and mental arithmetic community, and continue to cultivate world-class abacus and mental arithmetic talent, so that the thousand-year intangible cultural heritage of the abacus can be passed on from generation to generation and radiate new life in the new era!

Contributed by: Ammon Ng, President of the Association of Professional Abacus Education (HK) Limited, Hong Kong SAR, China