Olympic Predictions

Had to go home to deal with some stuff, so I'm not actually in China right now. But I should be back closer to the end of the Games, when I hope to actually get to Beijing to get a feel for the vibe. Anyways, 8 predictions for the '08 Games:

1. China wins the total medal count. Maybe the gold medal count too.
2. Liu Xiang wins gold in the 110m hurdles. Barely.
   
3. Events have to be moved due to the smog.
   
4. Someone blames their losing on the smog.
   
5. No (successful) terrorist attacks, but
6. More and more coverage on Xinjiang and the Uighur separatist movement.
7. At least one successful rally/disturbance/uprising by a foreign protest group that gets international coverage.
   
8. Some scandal where China is accused of stealing medals by rigging the competition or tainting someone's blood test.
   

chī-nēz'

In my view, one of the biggest problems China's going to have putting on a good show to visitors during the Olympics will be Chinese itself. It's not at all a language you can pick up quickly, and visitors often don't realize how few people speak even basic English here. In my experience, Westerners expect China to be a lot more Westernized than it is (or than they should), and the language issue is a pretty good indication of that.

The biggest difference between the two languages is that Chinese is based around the vowel sounds, while English focuses a lot more on the consonants. The Chinese word da, for example, could mean 'big' or 'to hit' (and a couple other things), depending on how you say the 'a'. But Westerners don't really have a concept of that. They only really see one way to say it, short of changing the volume of their voice or saying it as if it had a question mark or exclamation mark at the end of it (which can actually get you close).

Personally, I've been plenty frustrated myself when I get a Chinese address from my friend in pinyin and can't get the taxi driver to understand it because I don't know what tones to use. And I speak some Chinese. Imagine the frustration a white American with no sense of Chinese will have. The whole thing can easily taint a foreigner's experience in China, and that worries me a little, because all that is no fault of the Chinese people themselves, who are often earnestly trying to help you out.

Blue Skies in Beijing

Just how clear are the skies in Beijing?  The Asia Society has had a photographer taking pictures of the view/smog out her window every day for the last year.  Check it out here.

Amazingly, only two of the top five clearest days were in 2008 (and so were three of the top five dirtiest days).  Doesn't say a lot for the pollution measures they've got going.

Beijing 2018

Don't screw with the SWAT teams in Beijing.  Or they'll hunt you down in their Segways.

They've also got guns that can fire nets at people and elite squads called the Blue Sword Commando Unit and the Snow Leopard Commando Unit (those guys were even trained in a "secret camp" for five years).  I'm still working to confirm whether or not this is actually a true story or if President Hu Jintao just had a crazy dream after reading some comic books.

And is it just me, or does it seem like the guys in that picture have Storm Trooper guns (complete with the laser ammo and the bew-bew-bew sound effects)?

Cheaters!

In the days before their World Cup opener against host China last September, members of the Danish women's soccer team say they faced ongoing harassment that culminated in the discovery of two men attempting to secretly videotape a team meeting at their hotel through a two-way mirror.

-CNNSI.com

So I realize that I've become somewhat of a Chinese apologist since I got here, but this one's pretty indefensible.  Plus I'm pretty sure the Danish coach's story is true.  Inside the country, the Chinese government is pretty cocky and assumes (usually rightly) it can get away with just about anything. 

I really really doubt China will try anything like this in Beijing though.  Too much at stake.

The Thing About the Chinese...

...is that one of them looks like Charlie Brown too.

"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.