Tag Archives: Beijing

The “Redeem Team!”

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I just finished watching the USA basketball team (aka The Redeem Team) finish off Yao Ming and the rest of China’s team by the score of 101 to 70.

Despite this being China’s ‘home crowd’, the cheering seemed enthusiastic for both teams. China put up a spirited fight in the first half, but just couldn’t keep up in the second half.

I was personally impressed by how ‘clean’ everyone played, I’ve been so turned off by the NBA, because of all of the “thugs” who seem to do whatever they want with little or no consequences, that I was very pleasantly surprised by the sportsmanship shown by both teams.

08.08.08

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Well, the big day has arrived…  The day of the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

I feel like I should tell my Chinese friends, “Ok, everyone can breathe now.”  This day has been so highly anticipated for so long, I’m afraid there is going to be some let-down when things don’t live up to the unrealistic expectations many have manufactured for the 2008 Summer Games.

     With the Olympics finally coming to China, tens of thousands of young people have rushed to marry or deliver babies.

    The Games are due to open on Friday, or 08/08/08. “Eight” is a lucky number among the Chinese, and many couples plan to tie the knot on the “triple 8 day.” Civil affairs authorities have predicted that Friday could set a one-day record for marriages since 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.

As a lucky day, 08/08/08 is also a favorite for many pregnant women. In central Chinese city of Changsha, Hunan Province, several hospitals have increased the number of beds for expectant mothers.

    ”I want to have an Olympics baby on Aug. 8. It is such a special day worth remembering,” said a 38-year-old woman surnamed Xie at the Hunan Provincial Maternal and Children Health Hospital.

    At the request of Xie and several other expectant mothers, doctors will help them undergo Caesarean births on Friday, said a head nurse surnamed Li at the hospital.

    ”We advised them that natural births are better, but they are eager to have Olympic babies,” Li said.

If all of this strikes you as a bit over the top, well it may be, but it’s also exactly the way the Chinese want it to be.

It appears that the Chinese are not the only ones taking advantage of “triple 8 day”, President George Bush attended the dedication of the 600,000-square-foot US embassy in Beijing with his father, former President George H.W. Bush. The elder Bush once served as U.S. ambassador to China.

As many of you know, thanks in part to the 2008 Olympics, I am in Hong Kong right now working on getting visas for my family and I to live in China.  What would have normally been a simple process, has become a bit of a red-tape nightmare.

It’s not all bad though.  I LOVE Hong Kong, so if I have to be ‘stuck’ somewhere, this is the place!

Oh, and there is a bit of Olympic spirit here, nearly 1,000 miles south of Beijing, as the equestrian events of the Olympic games are all being held here in Hong Kong.

China’s First ‘Official’ Apple Store

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Over the weekend, something exciting happened… well, at least it was exciting for me.  Apple opened it’s first ‘official’ Apple Store in China.  (Beijing of course.)

 

Beijing, China

The two-level store store opened July 19th in Beijing’s Sanlitun entertainment district at 10 a.m., Apple’s 219th worldwide. 

“This is the first of many stores we will open in China,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of retail, in remarks at the store. He later added that Apple will open stores “in Beijing, in Shanghai and beyond,” and confirmed that another store will open in Beijing’s Qianmen area, a shopping street south of Tiananmen Square that has been renovated ahead of the Olympic Games, which begin next month.

The store will offer Genius Bar services in Chinese and English, said John Ford, the store’s manager, with support in some other languages available, including German.

Yao Ming is back, sorta

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Yao Ming played his first game in almost five months after a foot surgery, helping China beat Serbia 96-72 at the Stankovic Continental Cup here on Thursday.

The game was Yao’s first since a stress fracture in his left foot ended his NBA season in February and threatened his return as part of China’s team.

Yao returned to light training late last month after X-rays and an MRI scan taken in Houston showed his recovery was on schedule, at about 80 percent healed. Such injuries usually take a year to fully heal.

The injury has caused major concern among China’s Olympic organizers expecting him to become the face of the games and his return was certain to help them sleep easier. Yao is considered a leading candidate to carry the Olympic torch on its final leg into Beijing’s grandiose new National Stadium.

Animal Rights vs. Cultural Heritage

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Looks like “Animal Rights” won.

Dog meat off Olympic menu in Beijing

BEIJING, China (AP) – Canine cuisine is being sent to the doghouse during next month’s Beijing Olympic Games.

Dog meat has been struck from the menus of officially designated Olympic restaurants, and Beijing tourism officials are telling other outlets to discourage consumers from ordering dishes made from dogs, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

In the run up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, is the Chinese culture being short changed?Waiters and waitresses should “patiently” suggest other options to diners who order dog, it said, quoting city tourism bureau Vice Director Xiong Yumei.

Dog, known in Chinese as “xiangrou,” or “fragrant meat,” is eaten by some Chinese for its purported health-giving qualities.

Beijing isn’t the first Olympic host to slap a ban on the dish.

South Korea banned dog meat during the 1988 Seoul Olympics by invoking a law prohibiting the sale of “foods deemed unsightly.” After the Olympics, the ban was not strictly enforced.

Dog meat is also eaten in some other Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos. 

It is somewhat of a moot point since Chinese don’t eat dog meat in the summer time.  (It’s a winter time delicacy – the ‘warming of the body’ is probably one of the “health-giving qualities” referred to in the article.)  Maybe that’s why there doesn’t seem to be much ‘push back’ on this from official Chinese channels.

It does seem like a shame though.  A 5,000 year old culture is having a traditional dish taken off the menu because outsiders don’t ‘approve’.  What’s so different about “xianrou” compared to any other kind of meat?  Is ‘cruelty’ defined by how ‘cute’ the animal is?

Although I’m not a fan of dog meat (yes, I’ve tried it.  woof!)  I find myself bothered that this traditional piece of Chinese cultural cuisine is being taken away because ‘outsiders’ don’t approve.  

Go get your own Olympics an serve nothing but tofu…

 

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Olympic Toilet Trouble…

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As many of you already know, Asians possess the valuable skill of ‘squatting.’  You may be thinking, “I can squat too, and I’m not Asian!”  But, there is a big difference between the “Asian Squat” and the “Western Squat.”

2008 LogoNormally, this is just one of those interesting cultural differences that tourists and Western expats like me notice and talk about.  However, due to decisions made by those who have designed and built the venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it’s looking like it’s going to be a real issue for the tens of thousands of non-Chinese who are going to show up in August with no experience using a “squatty.”

Beijing is expecting about 500,000 foreigners to attend the Aug. 8-24 games.

At the more than 30 test events held by organizers, the presence of squat toilets at many of the new and renovated venues has drawn frequent complaints.

“Most of the Chinese people are used to the squat toilet, but nowadays more and more people demand sit-down toilets,” Yao said. “However, it will take some time for this transition.”

Beijing is reported to be spending at least $40 billion on the venues and related infrastructure, all designed to feature a modern country that has grown in three decades to a political and economic powerhouse.

Having experienced the reactions of dozens of Western tourists who come to China and encounter a ‘squatty potty’ for the very first time, I think the designers of the Beijing Olympic venues have made a serious miscalculation, based on cultural ignorance, by ommitting ‘western toilets’ in the bathrooms of these multi-million dollar venues!  The stories that will result will be interesting…