Cup of Cha
This is China

If you’ve been reading my little mom and pop operation web site, you know that on occasion I have been mildly critical of Beijing’s preparation for the Olympics. You know, just constructive criticism, nothing crazy like saying 9 months before the Games they should uproot and move them to another country (I’m sure this would not lead to an repercussions…)

Anyway, it turns out that there are actually going to be sports events during the Olympics. My previous understanding was that the Games were primarily designed for advertisers and developers. However, last night I went to an amateur boxing event that was set up as a trial run for the big shebang. The place was mostly empty despite the 10-20 kuai ticket prices, but that clearly won’t be a problem in August. It’s hard to take too much away from an event like this, but even a bitter old man such as myself has to admit it was done pretty well.

Highlights included:

• Young Chinese greeters speaking English, so overwhelmingly friendly that it was slightly disorienting. It was like being in a small mid-western American town, or at least what they seem like in Groundhog Day. The only slightly disconcerted part was when I asked them where the gate for my seat was no one seemed to know (isn’t that the most important part of their service?). But they were really nice about not knowing anything, and frankly I only asked them because there so few spectators I wanted to make them feel useful and give them a chance to show-off their English skills.

• In one fight the two boxers were from “HUN” and “CBJ”. I sat there trying to figure out what country “CBJ” could possibly be before they announced that he was from “China, Beijing.” My favorite country!! This fight was hilarious. It was the only time all night the crowd actually got into it, and as far as I could tell the Hungarian guy was beating up the Chinese guy pretty good. However, every time I look at the scoreboard the Beijing fellow had scored again. In the end it was such a blow-out that the Hungarian trainer tossed in the towel. Literally. I’ve never seen a trainer actually toss a towel into the ring before. In an entirely unrelated note one judge was Chinese and another was from Hong Kong. No connection to the outcome.

• Another fighter was Taiwanese, which led to the announcement that he was from “Chinese Taipei.” I suspect that this was part of the motivation behind making the other guy from “China, Beijing.” This led to a Chinese guy in my section yelling (in English) “Go Chinese Taipei team!”, a cheer whose hilarity did not elude any of the Beijing crowd that erupted into laughter.

• There was an entire area of cheerleaders that yelled chants in unison. These were real cheerleaders, Japanese-style. Not skimpily-dressed women, but people literally trying to start cheers, with a leader and everything. They were conspicuously silent in fights without Chinese fighters.

So that was my fun/super Chinese evening. It was a great preview for the Olympics. And the air quality in the gym was great!

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