Spectators are drawing inspiration from the spectrum of skills on display at the ongoing WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
The 48th WorldSkills Competition, running from Sept 22 to 27, has brought together a record 1,385 young competitors from 68 countries and regions. Its 64 skill categories — the first time the competition has surpassed 60 — range from car repair and baking to newer fields such as unmanned aerial systems and intelligent security technology.
Li Jun, a 35-year-old employee from an aerospace-related company, came as part of a workplace visit. He initially headed for mechanical manufacturing and electrical automation — areas close to his professional interests — but the section that left the strongest impression on him was the bakery competition.
"I could smell the bread," he said, recalling the baking and pastry area.
His 23-year-old colleague Shen Cong approached the competition more as a newcomer. Even without a technical background, he said he was impressed by the competitors' professional skills and the way humans worked alongside machines.
He described the event as a kind of "career guide" and said he would recommend bringing young people to see it, giving them a chance to discover careers they might never have considered.
The same sense of discovery extended to international visitors.
Jana Wuthrich, a Swiss visitor whose boyfriend was competing in car repair, spent days at the venue and planned to return over the weekend. Hairdressing was among the events that caught her attention the most.
"The competition was very interesting," she said. "It was beautiful."
Linn G Henrica, a Dutch competitor in beauty therapy and a recent national champion, recommended that first-time visitors to watch body massage or facial competitions.
"The tasks might look familiar to anyone who has visited a beauty salon, but at WorldSkills, they became tightly controlled competitive performances," Henrica said. "Each module was timed, with checkpoints, timekeepers, and experts monitoring the process. Competitors were judged on both technical execution and the clients' experience."
