Disclaimer: “I am here to bridge the gap. Not to hate. Not to love. Not to be biased. Only honesty.”
After seeing and hearing many of the critical comments made from so many Americans on newspapers, blogs, forums, TV, venting their frustrations on China’s policy-making, human rights issues, security issues. I’ve decided to step into the limelight and give my two cents on this critical issue currently circulating the media worldwide.
I’m willing to make a bet that many of these critical comments about China are coming from sources that haven’t lived in China for an extensive amount of time; people who don’t really know China. I believe some people just love to hate because I’ve encountered a good number of these bitter souls, but there’s a difference between someone who hates with no foundation behind their arguments and someone who actually knows why they are hating something. Here is my formula: Hate = misunderstanding + ignorance + arrogance, Arrogance = Not wanting to understand (due to fear/insecurity in most cases). Most of us probably read a biased article somewhere in a magazine about China’s workers working for $20/month and automatically scream “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe this injustice! How can this be? We’ve got to do something about that!”
I know people who hated China so much that they went over to China to collect evidence to strengthen their arguments (now that’s some serious hating). However, most of them came back here with a better understanding and appreciation for China as a culture. I respect these people and applaud their efforts in attempting to at least understand the subject they are arguing against. That is what we refer to in sports as respecting your opponent.
My advice to all those have negative views about China: “Go to China, live there for 6 months, don’t be a shut in and close your mind. Open your mind and really experience the culture, and then come back and tell me you still hate it.” That’s the very first step. I’ve encountered some of the brightest expats in the world who now reside in China, and we’ve gotten into conversations about China and different perspectives, and every conversations always ends with “best damn decision I made in my life to come here, mate (lots of Aussies).” Before you criticize something, don’t do it because you have been biased by secondary materials and sources that have influenced you in a negative way; go out there and get to know it yourself before you judge!
First and foremost, I want to make this clear: the purpose of this post is to help each other understand and accept different cultures so that we may all live in harmony. First, I want to mention that China has made great strides in the past ten years to be more globally receptive to become more international-friendly, and yet I feel we Americans unfairly expect China to make a 360 degree turn within days. It’s almost like telling a 3,000 year old Big Mac Lifetime Honoree to turn vegan within a week. It’s not fair for us to expect a culture with such a rich history to change and conform to our ideals because we think they ought to; especially when we think it’s for their own good.
The popular Chinese opinion regarding the main flaw of America is that we are arrogant, stubborn bullies that think the world should operate our way because we are almighty and everyone else is weak and small. Do we Americans agree with that? Let’s be truthful here (please do not let your patriotic feelings blind your logic and reasoning because it will make for a weaker argument), it’s my firm belief that a lot of things (media, propaganda, racism) can blind us from understanding other people’s beliefs and cause us to block out the legitimate arguments they may espouse; it’s called cognitive dissonance. If you saw any of the debates from the recent Presidential Election, you’d have a pretty good idea of what that looks like. Let’s ask ourselves, “Are we really a stubborn, arrogant nation that doesn’t want to understand and blocks out everything we don’t believe in? Or is that just a misconception?” Don’t get me wrong, I love America and am proud to be a citizen of this wonderful country where we can speak our mind and not fear persecution. But being in China for two years have helped me understand where the Chinese people are coming from, and that understanding has changed my perspective about a country I had previous biased notions about before actually living and breathing here for two years.
Here is a quote I found interesting:
“When we have too much security, you blame us for oppressing people.
When we don’t have enough security, you blame us for being a dangerous place to be…
What do you want from us?”
I want everyone to read that statement and absorb it.
Please watch this interview with Chinese veteran blogger Wang Jian Shuo to better understand what we need to do as human beings to help this world.
Quote of the Day:
“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son. You never walked in that man’s shoes.” Elvis Presley
As we all (should) know, the 2008 Beijing Olympics have arrived and are well underway. In fact, China is running away with the total medal count so far, pocketing gold medals like they were free ketchup packets at the local McDonald’s…that is, assuming the cheap-ass McDonalds’ here in China actually parted with their ketchup packets, what with their stingy two-packets-only-come-back-for-more policy.
Now, I’m writing this post four days after the Opening Ceremony, a spectacular-spectacular that, uh, I must agree was excellent. Part of me thinks this is a good time to write a post, with all the warm, fuzzy feelings the event instilled in me having subsided, and safely removed from the distraction of emotions. The other part of me doesn’t want to discard those emotions, however temporary they may have been the night I watched that annoyingly jumpy satellite feed of the ceremony.
I want to ask an emphatic question, one that can hopefully pierce through all our biased, jaded, or demoralized hearts and minds: “As you watched the Opening Ceremony, as thousands of Chinese put on their grand show, as the symbolic imagery played out before your eyes, as the athletes marched out with flags waving, and as millions of people watched around the world…
…how did you feel?”
No, I’m not asking if you were impressed by the show, or even if you were disgusted by what you consider to be excesses. Nor am I asking what you think about China’s politics, economics, or the state of its society. I’m not asking whether you think China deserved the honor of hosting the Games. Nor am I asking if you think the Olympics is politicized commercialism. I’m asking about you on a personal level, about how you feel about the world you live in and even your place in it.
Have the Opening Ceremony and these Olympic Games affected you, opened your eyes, or given you–dare I say it–hope?
We know that the Olympics has, over time, come to support many causes and movements. Yet, wasn’t the original mission of the modern Olympic Games to bring the world together, to bring us together, to celebrate humanity, our humanity? Wasn’t it about friendly competition, and reminding everyone that we all have similar aspirations that we work towards, that we all delight in our successes and despair at out failures, and that there’s always another chance next time?
The oft-quoted Olympic Creed reads:
The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.
There’s something there that should resonate with each and every one of us, and, as the athletes of the world took to the field and viewers around the world tuned in, we should have been reminded that each and every one of us has no choice but to take part in life, struggling and fighting to conquer and triumph over life’s never ending challenges, limitations, and defeats. We should have been able to look past our petty, and even not-so-petty, differences and marvel at our similarities.
For all the stark differences in opinion, values, and ideology, were we able to appreciate the humanity that is shared by us all? Were we able to understand, accept, even appreciate all of the admirable and despicable things that each and every one of us have done and are capable of doing? Because, quite frankly, while we’re all imperfect bastards with skeletons in our closets and shit that stinks, we’re also real living, breathing, feeling people with genuine fears, hopes, and dreams.
Yes, we all know that reality is never quite so simple. We know that even as the Olympics run their course, pain and suffering continue throughout the world, never stopping for the idealistic whims of man.
We know that.
But, for one, single–possibly inconsequential–moment, did you feel anything close to “Hey, we’re going to be okay”?
With all the tolerated genocide, rioting minorities, silenced grievances, information censorship, vetoed sanctions, environmental pollution, civilian surveillance, murdered fathers, competitive cheating, and their persistent constancy reminding us of the aggravating imperfection and seemingly unresolvable differences in the world… for one second were you able to forget? Were you able to look upon the extravagant Opening Ceremony and not think of it as an extravagance, to see past the ostentation and discover a genuine effort to earn your respect and a place by your side? Were you able to let go of your prejudices and agendas to personally see and embrace the Chinese as real people, not just a far-removed concept or, at worst, a threat?
No, you don’t have to agree with everything that happens in China or what the Chinese do, nor ought you accept it and stop fighting against what you believe to be fundamentally wrong. No, not everything behind these Olympic Games are pure and good, free of taint, or wholly in pursuit of universal ideals. But this isn’t about that or them. This is about you. When was the last time you felt, sincerely, that the world isn’t about “us” or “them” prevailing, and that there is, indeed, enough humanity within us all to coexist peacefully with a basic degree of mutual respect?
If you were able to feel that way, then that’s a start… and then maybe–just maybe–we have a chance after all.
Chinese felt ripped off by the CCTV broadcast version of the Opening Ceremonies, particularly after seeing the NBC version which was “1000 times better.” While foreigners around the world rave about this years Olympics opening ceremony being one of the best ever, local Chinese were telling a different story. It has been the most popular topic in the largest forums/BBS (such as Mop, Tianya) since the Opening.
Frustrated Chinese complain that CCTV version failed to capture many of the exciting (and in some cases crucial) camera angles and Chinese announcers only managed to provide vacuous commentary. Meanwhile, the American commentators were able to go into great detail about the numerous traditional Chinese elements and symbols used throughout the intricately planned ceremony, displaying a much more complete knowledge of what was happening than in the Chinese version (granted, the delayed broadcasting of the ceremony by NBC gave the commentators time to do their homework). Some even go as far as to assert that Chinese will have to retract their accusations against foreign media for biased reporting since this time they presented China with such creativity and expertise that “even Americans are unable to find fault.”
Here are some of the more glaring faults (translated from original Chinese here)
The CCTV version is a confused jumble of close and far shots, but the NBC version captured all the action from every possible angle providing the big picture in a much more complete and exciting way.
During the reading of the Analects, NBC provides a shot of the top of the bird’s nest where there is both English and Chinese translation, which shows a consideration for visitors from other countries and welcomes them. The version shown in China does not provide any shots of this and you cannot even hear what is being read!
Later there is a shot of children painting with watercolors and then the sequence is over, but in the NBC version there is a close up shot of the whole canvas, allowing the viewers to see that the black circle is actually the adorable smiling face of the sun, complete with two blushing red cheeks, so cute.
During the modern China section, the Chinese version jumps straight to the astronauts very suddenly, only after watching the NBC version do we see the picture of the universe and night sky from where the astronauts drop down. And after the Olympic theme song is finished, the 2008 faces are not captured well in the Chinese version, but the NBC version takes it all in and finally in a moving sequence shows close ups of all the different smiling faces of the children from all over the world.
Chinese people were really confused by the “footage of legs,” only afterwards did we discover that in front of the blank canvas were plates full of pigment so that each time a person walked across it created a rainbow effect. This was captured very well in the foreign version, but wasn’t captured in the CCTV version.
In the Chinese version, when the athletes entered the stadium you could not see the signs held up for each at all, only after watching the later version did we discover that each sign had 3 languages written on them (French, English, and Chinese) and were written with our traditional Chinese brushwork.
Additional source states: “On August 9th, I spoke with a friend in the television industry and he said that the live broadcast of the opening ceremony was the responsibility of Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BOB). The BOB live broadcast was global, and many television stations around the world (including TVB) all used the BOB broadcast which was excellent. But CCTV held broadcasting rights in China and brought their own cameras and director, so the final broadcast in China included clips from both CCTV coverage and BOB coverage cut and broadcast simultaneously, ruining the overall effect. The odd collection of closeups on famous people and actors and leaders and the shaky video footage was all thanks to CCTV.” (Original source here)
Who to blame? A source says:”
I am really angry! No wonder I have this weird (disconnected) feeling in watching the opening. The answer is that a Swedish broadcast director ruined our 2008 Olympics Opening Ceremony and Lao Mouzi’s (Yimou Zhang) talent.”
“NBC’s version is 1000 times better than CCTV’s, it shows the grand overview, super! But all our Chinese were watching a discounted gala.”
“So the broadcast director didn’t show us a real and extravagant opening. The director is a Swedish, not Chinese.”
Bookmark this page and you can watch the Olympic Games without a TV. Especially useful for catching the events that get little to no airtime — equestrian dressage, anyone?
The first section of this page is dedicated to Chinese resources. Good for overseas Chinese who want to hear Chinese commentary on their favorite events. The second section is for non-Chinese language. Feel free to add good resources for your language/country in the comments below thus more readers can view the video online.
Beijing locals express how they really feel about the Olympics by passing around this clever play on pregnancy terms to describe the current state of mind. Roll-over on the Chinese words below to see the pun and original definitions. Original post found here.
(Notes: To understand this meme with limited Chinese language knowledge, the first thing you need to know is the connection between “sports” and “pregnancy” in Chinese. “Sports” = “运动” (yùn dòng), it can be abbreviated as “运”(yùn) as in “奥运会” (奥林匹克 运动 会, Olympic Games, lit. = Olympic Sports Meeting). “pregnancy”(孕) in Chinese pronounces as “yùn” as well. It is very likely that you don’t know which character people are referring to in speaking. - Min)
Meme: The four movements of the Olympics (段：奥林匹克四)
Currently there are four kinds of people in Beijing (当前北京四种人):
1. The Escapists
Those who travel outside of Beijing to avoid the Olympics
We just posted the Olympic Video World of Warcraft edition. Our new contributing editor, Thalia Kwok (aka Chinkerfly), did a great job with a CN Reviews exclusive: translation of the music video AND a scene-by-scene identification of the 88+ movie- and rock- stars in the video so you can impress your Chinese friends with your intimate knowledge of Chinese popular culture!
Here is the original version of “Beijing Welcomes You” (on Youku):
Hundreds of Chinese favorites appear in front of famous sites around Beijing in the original version of the song.
Here’s a translation along with the names of the artists so you can impress your local Chinese friends at the next KTV night with your incredible knowledge of China pop music culture. (IfGoGo.com also has a translation here.)
北京欢迎你 - Beijing Welcomes You Composed by Xiao Ke (小柯) Lyrics by Albert Leung (林夕)
【陈天佳】迎接另一个晨曦 带来全新空气
[Chen Tianjia] Welcome the first rays of sun in the morning and the fresh air that comes with it.
【刘欢】气息改变情味不变 茶香飘满情谊
[Liu Huan] The air changes, but the taste of friendship never changes. The fragrance of tea is full of affection.
【那英】我家大门常打开 开放怀抱等你
[Na Ying] The door to our home is always open, and we wait for you with open arms
【孙燕姿】拥抱过就有了默契 你会爱上这里
[Stephanie Sun] Embracing one another is to know each other. You will fall in love with this place.
【孙悦】不管远近都是客人 请不用客气
[Sun Yue] No matter how far you have come, everyone is a guest, please make yourself at home
【王力宏】相约好了再一起 我们欢迎你
[Wang Lee-hom] We promised to be together again, we welcome you
【韩红】我家种着万年青 开放每段传奇
[Han Hong] In our home we plant evergreens, every branch tells a Chinese story
【周华健】为传统的土壤播种 为你留下回忆
[Wakin Chau] Scatter seeds in our ancient land and take away with you unforgettable memories
【梁咏琪】陌生熟悉都是客人 请不用拘礼
[Gigi Leung] Friends and strangers are all welcome guests, please enjoy your stay
【羽泉】第几次来没关系 有太多话题
[Yu Quan] It makes no difference how many times you have visited, we have much to share
*【成龙】北京欢迎你 为你开天辟地
[Jackie Chan] Beijing welcomes you, a whole new world has been opened to you
【任贤齐】流动中的魅力充满着朝气
[Richie Ren] The intoxicating spirit of sportsmanship fills the air
【蔡依林】北京欢迎你 在太阳下分享呼吸
[Jolin] Beijing welcomes you, let us breathe the same air under the sun
【孙楠】在黄土地刷新成绩
[Sun Man] Break new records across our land
【周笔畅】我家大门常打开 开怀容纳天地
[Zhou Bichang] The door to our home is always open, we open our hearts to heaven and earth
【韦唯】岁月绽放青春笑容 迎接这个日期
[Wei Wei] The years reflect the joys of youth as we welcome the this day
【黄晓明】天大地大都是朋友 请不用客气
[Huang Xiao Ming] We are friends in this giant world, please make yourself at home
【韩庚】画意诗情带笑意 只为等待你
[Hankyung] Everything is prepared, just waiting for you to arrive.
【汪峰】北京欢迎你 像音乐感动你
[Wang Feng] Beijing welcomes you, we hope the music moves you
【莫文蔚】让我们都加油去超越自己
[Karen Mok] Let’s go! Let us all push ourselves to the limits
【谭晶】北京欢迎你 有梦想谁都了不起
[Tan Jing] Beijing welcomes you, anyone with a dream can achieve greatness.
【陈奕迅】有勇气就会有奇迹
[Eason Chan] Where there is courage there can be miracles
Forget about the Iraqi’s, what about the Alliance and the Horde from the Land of Azeroth?
World of Warcraft junkies will get a kick out of this Olympics music video. Someone over at Mop with either a lot of creativity or too much free time created an WoW remake of the much overplayed “Beijing Welcomes You” music video. We discovered this at a great new blog called chinaSMACK earlier this week.
We’ll post the translation of this on a separate post with the original video.
If you haven’t seen the new chinaSMACK yet, please do. It’s our new guilty pleasure. Here’s how chinaSMACK’s blogger Fauna describes the site:
China is a big country, with a lot of people, and has the world’s most internet users (sorry, USA). A lot of crazy stuff happens in China each day and someone will always put it on the internet for everyone to see. The government officially say these things are illegal, immoral, or unhealthy. Sometimes the government and websites will delete these things and stop people from talking about it. But if it is funny, embarrassing, outrageous, or shocking, someone will post it, share it, and talk about it.
The really “hot” stories, pictures, and videos spread quickly onto many BBS forums all over the Chinese internet (I think foreigners call this “viral”). I realized that many of my foreigners do not know about Chinese “viral” things because they do not know how use Chinese websites and cannot read Chinese.
So, I decided to make this website and share a “slice of Chinese life” with English-speaking foreigners. I will collect and repost all of the hot, popular, interesting, outrageous, and shocking things that I see on the Chinese-language internet so foreigners can understand, experience, and enjoy also. Maybe there will be some cultural differences and maybe not every foreigners will understand what Chinese think is funny, sad, angry, or ridiculous but I will try to translate and explain the “cultural context.”
Very “hot“, very “viral“. CN Reviews welcomes you!
To say that the run-up to the Oympics (whee, 9 days left, rah rah) has been a stomach-churning, mind-numbing roller-coaster ride of twists and turns and ups and downs would be an unforgivable understatement, on par with asserting that the Chinese outfits for the 2008 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony is only…slightly clashing.
The latest nauseating corkscrew of an embarrassment to the Chinese-run Olympic Games has been the popular outrage amongst Chinese citizens that buffet meals served to foreign reporters and media will only cost one measly USD (~6.8 RMB). To add insult to injury for the Chinese, not only is it all-you-can eat (because Westerners love to eat, just look at those gargantuan Americans), it’s also a smorgasbord of culinary delight rumored to be prepared by China’s top chefs! Great, so that’s three whammies in a row. Cheap, plentiful, and prepared by the finest…oh, and the fourth, reserved only for foreign devils.
Yeah, I’d be kinda upset too.
One of the mass e-mail forwards references a recent story of a mother who stole meat for her child, asking emphatically:
“CCP, you used the Chinese people’s money to put on the Olympics, why not let the meat-stealing mother bring her child to eat the Olympic 1 USD buffet? Just 1USD, all the Chinese commoners can enjoy! But why only let foreigners enjoy and not let the Chinese people enjoy?”
To be sure, 1 USD buffet meals is a downright steal for the vast majority of foreigners…and an outright affront to the vast majority of Chinese who spend 1 USD each day and get far less.
But, our dear Chinese can take solace in knowing that the Chinese government has not completely betrayed them once they take a gander of how ridiculously expensive internet access will be for those same Olympic reporters and media personnel. US$1,131 for one month of broadband DSL service…that, contrary to what everyone originally thought China promised, will still be censored. Wow, I only pay 130 RMB (19 USD) a month…for censoredinternet…suckers.
One, perhaps unsurprising, Chinese comment in response to Western complaints about this reads:
你们他妈的脑子进水了吧,都想来白吃白喝白住,还他妈白用,去死吧
Has water entered your mother*ucking brains? You all want to come eat without paying, drink without paying, stay without paying, and use the internet without paying? Go kill yourselves.
Well, that certainly helps put the Chinese resentment in perspective. This one provides a humorous counter-balance.
So maybe the government got it backwards. That whole “food before freedom” argument works with the poor Chinese masses…but not so much for the now well-fed Western Olympic journalists
An interesting conversation unfolded on Meg’s blog post about China Visa problems. Commenter CnInDC offered a well-argued explanation of the root cause of work visa limitations in both countries.
But one thing he (or she) shared helped me understand the feelings that some Chinese people must have:
I agree that the current visa “crackdown” was caused by security concerns about the Olympics. If you watch news in China you’ve probably already noticed that the China’s domestic Olympic propaganda has been dramatically toned down from wanting a most successful Olympic to a merely safe one. The reality is there, that a most successful Olympic is already beyond our reach. The people they wanted to impress the most, the western media and the general public from the western countries, are impossible to please. So they go for the next best one, that at least it’s safe, no ugly scenes (or at least not a major one), and the Chinese can enjoy the party all by themselves. I’ve heard this before from the Chinese people around me and think it may have a point: “大不了办成全运会”, or, “At least we can turn this into a national sports event”.
When we were called “sick man of Asia”, we were called peril.
When we billed to be the next superpower, we’re called the threat
When we closed our doors, you smuggled drugs to open markets.
when we embrace free trade, you blame us for taking away your jobs.
when we’re falling apart, you marched in your troops and wanted your fair share.
when we’re putting the broken pieces together, “Free Tibet” you screamed! “it was invasion.”
So we tried communism, you hated us for being communist.
So we embraced capitalism, you hate us for being capitalist,
Then we have a billion people, you said we’re destroying the planet.
Then we limit our numbers, you said it was human rights abuses.
When we were poor, you think we’re dogs,
When we loan you cash, you blamed us for your debts.
When we build our industries, you called us polluters.
When we sell you goods, you blamed us for global warming,
When we buy oil, you called that exploitation and genocide.
When we were lost in chaos and rampage, you wanted rule s of laws for us.
When we uphold law and order against violence, you called that violation of human rights.
When we were silent, you said you want us to have free speech.
When we were silent no more, you say we were brainwashed.
Why do you hate us so much? We asked. “No”. You answered, “we don’t hate you”.
We don’t hate you either Bud, do you understand us?? “of course we do”, you said, “We have CNN, BBC, and CBC”.
But why, we still feel, your western people are not happy with us.
What do you really want from us??
My friend, What do you really want from us??
There is plenty of angry rhetoric from people who take extremist political positions on China on the China Digital Times post. There is also some extremely thoughtful points there too. Please read that comment thread first before posting some extreme rant (either highly critical of China or highly defensive against perceived criticism of China) that has already been said over there.
I propose we just take the time to try to understand the feeling expressed in the poem above and figure out how we can all take this feeling into account in our behavior with each other.
(Why am I posting this? I figured this poem would be hard to find in the future and wanted to just capture it on the blog where I know I could find it)
CNReviews is a blog about China’s technology, travel, entrepreneurship, and the blogosphere. David Feng is based in Beijing, where he authors TechBlog86, runs Beijingology, and serves as President of BeiMac Union. Elliott Ng is an venture-backed Web 2.0 entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Min Guo is a Shanghai-based Internet analyst and blogger. Kai Pan is a Shanghai-based entrepreneur.
