Below is a report about Olympic gymnast Jian Yuyung’s humble beginning. I found it while trying to substantiate which year Jiang, one of the gymnasts accused of being underage, entered local gymnastics program in Liozhou (appearantly 1994 when she was ONE YEAR OLD - if the allegation she was born in 1993 is true): Continue reading »
A few weeks ago, accusations and charges of fakery in the Opening Ceremony flew in the Western media like hotcakes when it was discovered that two Chinese girls had participated in performance of the “Hymn to the Motherland” in the Opening Ceremony. We had a discussion here a few weeks ago.
Well - a few days ago, it was found out that the Australians also faked - not just one signer - but the entire orchestra! I thought this would make for an entertaining read.
We don’t need to get into the politics again… but I just wanted to follow up in case some of you missed the story…
The Olympics are over (except for the Paralympics, that is) and people have trickled out of Beijing, but still in their heads and mine is probably this catchy (some say annoying) song that was sung by an ensemble of veritable who’s-who in today’s Chinese popular music world. Chinese people seem to really like this kind of qunxing (群星) or star-ensemble singing, where phrases are sung by their favorite stars.
I thought I’d bring to people’s attention to a recent Op Ed from Tony Blair in the Wall Street Journal on the Rise of China and the Olympics. I think the piece is interesting as a genuine attempt by a Western Leader (or at least a former Western leader) to understand - in good faith - the Rise of China and the Olympics. Continue reading »
While news outlets such as NYT and Huffington Post were all too happy to “out” the Chinese government on misreporting and record errors, by citing unfavorable search engine results to bolster the “lie”, “cheat” conclusions - What our media doesn’t seem to care about, is the search engine results that are in support of the claim these girls are of age: Continue reading »
Just watched the closing ceremoney, allow me to head off any potential criticisms:
- During the flag raising the 56 fake ethinic children are now being faked by 56 grown ups (I’m sure those children didn’t grow up in 2 weeks.) No doubt they are all Han (except a close up on a woman who appears to be ethinic, possibly CGI enhanced?) And they were again fake singing, no doubt using 56 other people’s voices.
- The king of the drums was not flying, rather hanging on wires - just like the moon goddess during the opening ceremoney.
- The perfectly synchronized fireworks aerial must be CGI. No doubt about it.
- The entire dance number was pirated from Circ De Sole, down to those giant drums that didn’t make a sound when the soundtrack was misqued (no doubt the drum sound were from a different drum, how cruel it is to the unseen drum.)
It is said that the Beijing Olympics was a big draw, perhaps proving the adage that no publicity is bad publicity. Did the worldwide protests before the Olympics ironically serve as a big advertisement for the Beijing Olympics? And now that a record number of people have watched the Olympics, what have they learned about China? Continue reading »
The answer is “whichever way that looks good on us”.
The Olympics simply won’t allow me to go back to work. Came across this cute piece on backchina.com (Chinese source). Here is my rough translation. Continue reading »
ChinaWatcher’s response to my last post has struck me as particularly thoughtful and reasonable. However, I have a different view on the following statement and feel the issue is important enough to write a separate post, to ensure sufficient attention. My writing is 99.9% dead serious and 0.1% over the top satire. The Olympics have been criticized for being uptight and lacking in fun. We need to make it up for Beijing. Continue reading »
This will probably make some people angry, or at least get people’s emotions fired up. But that’s not what I’m trying to do. This is a totally honest Western perspective from a Westerner who is usually very positive toward China (we are learning Chinese in China and want our kids to grow up here). I’m writing this hoping we can have a real conversation and understand one another better. Continue reading »
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has found no proof that Chinese Gymnast He Kexin was underage. The issue was raised by the US gymnastic team based on their visual inspection; “they don’t look like 16, but a lot younger”. How much credit should be given to the subjective impression of the American competitors who have lost to Kexin and her teammates? Moreover, what can you do with your subjective impressions? Continue reading »
Even though Buxi isn’t back, why don’t we return to a fine tradition of this blog? This post from Niubo (牛博), a Chinese forum often filled with discontent with how things are, has something interesting to add about the age of Olympic gymnast He Kexin. Translation below:
On the question of the Chinese gymnast He Kexin’s age, one fact is certain, that is, there is an inconsistency between the local athletic bureau and the central athletic bureau. So, is it that:
1. The local athletic bureau is correct, and the central athletic bureau changed her age to older?
OR
2. The local athletic bureau falsified, and changed her age to younger?
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