Abacus calculation proves beneficial to youth development

The 7th "Wisdom at Fingertips" Youth Abacus Calculation Cultural Heritage and Aesthetic Education Conference officially kicked off on Saturday in Beijing. This year's conference launches a year-round "three-city linkage" format featuring stops in Beijing; Chengdu, Sichuan province; and Xi'an, Shaanxi province, with activities running through October.

As the first stop, Beijing attracted young abacus practitioners, coaches and their families from 27 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions nationwide, among which over 60 newly formed participating teams accounted for 44 percent of the total delegations.

As a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, abacus calculation has a long history and is hailed as "providing the world with an alternative knowledge system". Mental abacus calculation, which is based on the physical abacus internalized as a mental image, has now spread to more than 130 countries and regions worldwide.