June 20, 2010, was a day of turbulent weather, dominated by frequent rain interrupting burning sunlight, and the day marked the launch of the Asian Games Songs Contest.

Exactly one year earlier, Gao Xiupeng, a graduate student from Guangzhou Sports College joined 27 teammates to participate in the national cheer squad trials sponsored by Chinese beverage producer Jianlibao. Meanwhile, Jin Hui, vice president of the Art School of South China Agricultural University, was busy preparing a bid to design the official uniform of the Asian Games.

The Greatest Game of Her Life

Jin Hui’s bid was successful. “I prefer Ink & Color of the 16 designs for official uniforms,” the designer remarked, “because it’s a break from the Beijing Olympic design. As always, we received both positive and negative feedback from the judges.” Jin’s heart swelled with emotion when her work was unveiled as the official uniform of the 16th Asian Games on May 18, 2010.

Back in January 2009, Jin Hui and her team made the decision to design uniforms for the Asian Games. They would be the sole candidate from an institute of higher learning in Guangdong Province. Pressure on the team increased when they learned that the Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology would be amongst their opponents.

“We were confident in our ability to beat other entries from Guangdong,” recalls Jin, “but competition from an institute with a sterling reputation and loads of experience from the Beijing Olympics was a different story.”