Nantong is full of people and celebrities. Writers such as Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Mi Fei, Wen Tianxiang and Shuaijiang left many immortal poems and stories in Nantong. Shen Shou, a master of modern Suzhou embroidery, also has many connections with Nantong. Chen Shigong, a famous doctor in the Ming Dynasty, Li, one of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, and Zhang Jian, the top scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, were all from Nantong. Chen Bingde, Chief of General Staff of China People's Liberation Army, Ge Honglin, Deputy Secretary of Chengdu Municipal Committee and Mayor, Zhao Dan, a contemporary performing artist, Wei, a master of Chinese painting, Ji Desheng, a Korean expert in climbing and snake medicine, and Yang Le, a mathematician, are also from Nantong. Sports has attracted much attention. It has cultivated seven Olympic champions, including Huang Xu, Li Ju, Chen and Zhong Man, and a number of famous athletes, such as Zhang, Wu, Qin Yan, Zhao Jianhua, Ji Lei, Lv Bin and Zhao Tingting, and was praised as the "cradle of world champions" by Wu Shaozu, former director of the State Sports Commission.