Who are Aobama and Maikaien?
They are none other than the candidates for the U.S. presidency. In China, coverage of the American election has taken the backseat to the Olympics, so perhaps that's why when I asked many Beijingers if they recognize pictures of Barack Obama (奥巴马, pronounced Ào bā mǎ) or John McCain, (麦凯恩, pronounced Mài kǎi ēn) many gave me a quizzical look.
Barack Obama. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
John McCain. (Photo by Laura Segall/Getty Images)
Ultimately though, they came up with the right guess with a little prodding.
"Isn't that the black man that's running for president?" one man said of Obama.
"He's quite old," another man said of a picture of McCain. Read more...
Hard to Believe This is Still Beijing
Walking around Beijing on August 25th was like living the day after your college graduation. The signs around you still point to the distant past, yet your friends have started to disperse to all parts of the globe. The motto of the Olympics was "One World, One Dream," but now it seems it's time to wake up.
Though the city is heavily promoting the Paralympics, which take place Sept. 6-17, there is a discernible lack of direction in the air. This is my last week in China, and I too have been beset with Olympic ennui -- that is until I decided to get off my couch, and get on a bus.
The Beijing countryside with the Western Hills in the distance.
For only 10 yuan, about $1.50, I spent today 20-plus miles outside of the city, in the picturesque Changping District, a northwestern suburb of Beijing. One of the area's claim to fame is that the burial sites of 13 Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) emperors are located here.
Just in time for the Olympics, the government significantly spruced up the three Ming Tombs that have been excavated. The tombs are scattered over 20 miles throughout the Western Hills, but their placement was not accidental. The first tomb was constructed in 1409 by Emperor Zhu Di, as the site of his final resting place. For the next 200 years, succeeding Ming Emperors would also be entombed here. Read more...
The Best Use of Gunpowder
I headed to the south gate Chaoyang Park in Beijing to watch the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics last night -- I and swarms of thousands that is.
Crowds watch the closing ceremony in Chaoyang Park.
After paying the fee to enter, and being shoved and pushed in all directions heading in, we found that most of the jumbo television screen was blocked by a display aimed at a more-private gated gathering. Along with many others I tried to watch the show through the holes of a chain-link fence as invited guests of Coca-Cola sat on the grass and enjoyed the closing ceremonies -- Their children playing in a special playground area that could have sat hundreds.
But my goal was to watch the closing ceremonies like many Chinese people would (if they chose to leave the comforts of their home that is), so perhaps my experience was quite realistic. Not able to see the screen, I decided to give up and head to a restaurant at the west side of the park. The park is huge, about two-miles long by one-mile wide. Read more...
Olympics in Mime
The Potty is Political
Five years ago, when I lived in China and nature called, I always prepared to hold my breath and grab the roll of toilet paper I always carried with me. Back then, squat toilets were the norm, and for a "Westerner" like me, squatting was something that just had to be beared.
A neighborhood squat toilet in Beijing
Throughout the years I've had conversations with Chinese friends and relatives who stood (squatted?) firmly behind (in front of?) squat toilets. They argued that it was more hygienic, because your bottom didn't touch the bowl. I've never really gotten used to it though, and if there is a choice, I'll always choose a sit-down toilet.
Today, "western" toilets are as common as the squatters, and in my un-expert opinion, may be surpassing the squat toilets. Just before the Olympics, Beijing made sure to provide sitting toilets precisely because they knew that many foreign visitors are just accustomed to that style. Read more...
The Question of Race in China
Last week's controversy over the Spanish Basketball Team's photograph wherein the team makes hand-eye gestures exaggerating the supposed Chinese slanted-eye barely even caused a mention here in China.
A man in Madrid looks at the Spanish basketball team's controversial advertisement (MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)
For one thing the ad never appeared in the Chinese media, it seems to have just run in the Spanish sports newspaper Marca. But that aside, it seems doubtful that even it it did appear here in China, the Chinese would be very offended at all.
I showed the picture to some people here in Beijing, who never saw it or heard of the debate. One man said the team was being funny, and that they were just making a joke. He was also very curious that the notion of pulling at the eyelids could be considered racist.
"Doesn't hip-hop culture allow for these types of things?" he added. Read more...
The Weight on Liu Xiang's Shoulders
By now, the Chinese public must have at least reached the "bargaining stage" in the fives stages of grief over the early exit of Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang from the Olympics on Monday.
Liu Xiang walks off the Men's 110m Hurdles Heats at the National Stadium in Beijing on August 18. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Much has been written about the disbelief and anger of Chinese bloggers over Liu's departure from the field before he was set to race in the 110-meter hurdles due to an inflamed Achilles' tendon and a bone growth on his right heel.
Some harsher critics have said it was fear that led him off the field. Others have actually accused him of faking his injury and giving up. Bloggers have also expressed anger that he did not at least acknowledge his fans when he left the stadium. (Beijing communications consultant Kaiser Kuo has some interesting thoughts on using blogger comments as a dipstick of Chinese sentiment here.)
But just a day later, the country seems to have softened. A poll by the Chinese social-networking Website Xiaonei found that an overwhelming number sympathized with the 25-year-old athlete who literally jumped to stardom when he won China's first track and field gold medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Read more...
Inside Chinese Baseball
Sunday was a magical day in Beijing as I sat in my bleacher seat at the Wukesong Olympic Baseball Stadium to watch China play South Korea. It was the resumption of a game that I actually missed when the two teams first faced off last Thursday.
For some reason, I thought that Thursday's game was at night, and not during the day. So when the the first pitch was thrown, I was out buying shoes. But thanks to a downpour of rain, the game was put on hold until Sunday, and I was the first through the gate. This gave me ample time to watch the players practice. (See slideshow above.)
Highlights (and lowlights) included:
A Tale of Two Houses
Holland House
London House
The international feel of Beijing has expanded exponentially with the influx of Olympic visitors. Foreign tourists have clogged all known tourist traps, including Hou Hai Lake, Nanluoguxiang, Wangfujing, and Sanlitun bar street.
But in addition to local attractions, many countries have established their own temporary "house" to showcase the best of their nation to visitors and their own citizens. This week I popped by the Holland House and the London House, and the differences were striking. Check out a photo gallery I created of my visits here.
In Beijing's China National Agricultural Exhibition Center, where the Dutch laid claim, orange was the color of the day and it might as well have been Heineken House for the level of branding by the brewery. Read more...
Is This Little Girl Ugly?
It was revealed yesterday that the pretty little girl that sang the Chinese national anthem at the opening ceremony of the Olympics was actually lip synching, much to the chagrin of Chinese fans and Olympic organizers.
Yang Peiyi, 7, sang for the Olympic opening ceremony, but another girl got the credit. (AFP/Getty Images)
The news was disclosed by the musical director of the ceremony Chen Qigang, who told the Beijing Radio station that there was a last minute decision to pick a prettier girl "in the national interest."
Thanks to a translation of the interview by the blog Fools Mountain, Chen told the radio station: "We felt the coupling of a perfect voice with the best appearance produced the most optimal result." Read more...