Comments on: Tianjin’s “Old Hundred Names” on the Olympics

By: Hidden Harmonies – china blog » (Letter from Joel) Tianjin’s LaoBaiXing on the Olympics

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:35:48 +0000

[...] (This is excerpted from: Tianjin’s “Old Hundred Names” on the Olympics) [...]

By: Tianjin rated #1 Most Livable City in China; Beijing & Shanghai exposed as overrated gong shows | China Hope Live

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:30:17 +0000

[...] Tianjin’s “Old Hundred Names” on the Olympics (video) [...]

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:21:16 +0000

He’s a friend of ours, and he had about two hours to think about it before he answered (he was over for dinner). PLus he really wanted to do it. Also, he used to be a Mandarin teacher at our school before he got a job with a bank, so when he speaks Chinese to us it’s always really clear.

His fiancee graduated from Wheaton.

By: Albert

Albert — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:45:53 +0000

GREAT lu shang de fangwen! Actually I DID learn some new words from this little video. It’s the first time I’ve heard your Chinese, Joel (I’m assuming that was you) and it sounds great!

Whoever that last guy (Wheaton shirt) is, was he reading or just riffing? Is he on staff with the Beijing Olympic Committee? So very elegant and professional sounding, not to mention the easiest Mandarin in the clip to understand (and used a phrase from the song I’m posting in a few hours: quan shijie de muguang).

By: Joel

Joel — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:27:13 +0000

yeah well, just don't forget that to Chinese people, our Chinese sounds something like this.

By: ruthie

ruthie — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:48:28 +0000

wow.. joel.. that was GREAT! thanks for putting all that together.. all those sweet people make me wish i could come over.. but i would rather wait until after the olympics when all the foreigners were gone :)

they all see so nice!

(OH.. it was cool to hear you speaking Chinese!)

By: Joel

Joel — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:09:13 +0000

Don’t be fooled… i had help. Especially with the transcribing.

The pollution is no joke – Tianjin isn’t as bad as that BBC video, which is about the worst I assume, but it’s still smoggy beyond belief a lot of days.

One very common response I got to “奥运会对中国人有什么意义？” that didn’t make it onto the video was, “我不懂！” – “I don’t understand the Olympics.” Several older, working-class people said this. I assume part of it is just not wanting to be interview on camera (that’s why there’s only one female in the video), but even the bike repairman Liu Shifu originally said that, and so did some of his friends (whom you can hear in the background). In non-recorded interviews I also heard some negative stuff from blue-collar folks (former street vendors, etc.), saying the gov has gone overboard and should spend that much money on more important things. Still, most people seemed more or less positive toward it.

By: Kiryu

Kiryu — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:12:48 +0000

cripes, your mandarin is very good for a 2 year student -__-
I guess this is what it means to be engrossed inside a real chinese community.

you know, I don’t really feel that the Olympics will have a big change on how the people live in china, I think it’s still a pretty closed off country, outsiders really have no idea on whats going on inside their factories, their government..etc

I just watched this BBC video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1DNjJd2YfA

pretty depressing to watch that, even though China isn’t the only place thats polluted like that.