"What I'm Looking Forward to at the 2008 Games"

In China, authorities often act as scouts for an archaic Soviet-esque sports model, plucking children -- sometimes the only child of couples in a nation with birth limits -- from the low-income, rural reaches of the country. Possess stout legs? You're perfect for weightlifting. Wispy frame? You're made for a marathon. Able to catch butterflies? Badminton is calling you.

Under pressure, and with the riches of national glory as a carrot, parents surrender their children to the sports factories, where they are sealed off from their families for years.

-Selena Roberts, CNNSI.com

I can't really disagree with that statement, but at the same time, it's pretty bad journalism to paint everyone with a broad brush like that, isn't it? National pride is a huge (and often misunderstood) thing in China, especially during the Olympics, and as much as the government "forces" kids into rigorous training systems, there's often a strong push from the family as well. Watch the first six minutes of this excerpt from a Discovery Channel documentary:

"I'd be so happy if I made it to the national team, but I think my Dad would be even happier!"

-Gymnast Jin Yang

I love how the father laughs as he's talking about how he used to beat his kid.

Back to the point though. There's no doubt that Chinese athletes are pushed harder than their counterparts in the West, and I too have read stories about how Olympic athletes are forced to continue training long after they've lost the desire to. That's obviously not right. But look at it from this father's perspective: gymnastics are probably the only way your (only) child is going to make a name for herself, and given the competition there is in a country of 1.3 billion, you've got to take that chance. Jin Yang's father knows how hard it is to stand out in China, and by letting her quit, he's really failing as a father to give her the best chance at success.

If it's not obvious by now, "happiness" isn't quite as viewed the same in China as it is in the West. "Happiness" is being able to beat out the 200,000 others gunning for what you have to help your family survive. The Western, loosey-goosey "doing what makes you happy" attitude is more like a sure-fire way to fail. And I say that having lived with elements of that mentality in my family, and knowing that it still exists in a lot of families that have recently emigrated from China.