Opening Ceremonies- The Day Has Finally Come
I watched the Opening Ceremonies at a pub with Shanghaiist's Rebekah Pothaar, her brother, and a group of about 40 Chinese and foreign patrons. On the whole, I have to agree with Chris' take: it was pretty spectacular. I liked some parts more than others (the Chinese singer Liu Huan generally gives me the creeps), but easily my favorite was the tai qi demonstration- it was beautiful. I also liked the torch lighting at the end, and wonder how London in 2012 will be able to one-up Beijing. The stadium looked amazing, too.
Some other jottings:
- easily the funniest moment of the march of nations was the camera panning to Da Shan (otherwise known as Mark Rowswell as he so self-importantly tells us on TV) marching with the Canadian team. Da Shan, of course, is the most famous laowai in China, best known for his mastery of an ancient Chinese comedy form called "crosstalk". He also regularly appears as the token white guy in various TV productions and has his face plastered over billboards advertising electronic dictionaries. For Chinese people, Da Shan is the standard bearer for foreigners' ability to learn Chinese. Everyone knows him.
Except, of course, in Canada. I can only imagine that when the camera pans to the tall, angular blonde guy in his glasses, Canadians from across the country will utter, "who the hell is that?"
- what was with the bagpipes? Funny line from my friend Erik: "Bagpipes of course were brought to the West from China by Marco MacPolo". I can understand playing them while the British and Irish march past but for Paraguay?
- Erik's other observation about the ceremonies in general:"this looks like a Pink Floyd concert."
- The Chinese in attendance respectfully applauded Taiwan (marching as Chinese Taipei), Hong Kong, Japan, the US, and other entities with which it has a complicated or adversarial relationship. The foreigners tended to cheer for their home country, a country of ancestry (I stood up for Italy and Norway), or whenever the camera panned to a beautiful female athlete. Everyone booed France, even the Chinese. And everyone cheered China. I walked around and shook the hands of the Chinese strangers in attendance, some of whom were misty eyed. This is their moment.
-Didn't former Chinese President Jiang Zemin look like a wax museum model of himself? I realize he's old, but wow. Hu, Wen, and the rest of the Politburo were in good form. President Bush did his usual Alfred E. Neuman "What me worry?" routine, standing and waving with a shit-eating grin. Russian premier Vladimir Putin looked perturbed and distracted, which I suppose is natural considering he just provoked a war with neighboring Georgia. Oh, that's right- he isn't president anymore. How could I forget?
- Good live blogging from both Brendan and Jeremiah.
Some select quotes from Jeremiah:
"NBC's The Today Show kicks off from Beijing where today "What some people are calling €˜the most important moment in modern Chinese history'" will occur. I guess that whole Liberation-Great Leap Forward-Cultural Revolution-Opening and Reform thing was just a warm up act. Good to know, I can condense a few lectures for next semester."
"China's answer to Liberace€¦Lang Lang"
"There's a dude from some Middle Eastern country (Okay, so I'm fading a bit on who's who) talking on his cell phone while marching and waving the flag. Like he didn't tell people BEFORE that he might be on TV? "Yeah, hey Abdul€¦like, I forgot to mention that when I was leaving for 2 weeks I would be marching in the Olympic opening ceremonies in front of 4 billion people, so turn on the TV! Oh, and don't forget to feed the goldfish"
And from Brendan:
"Putin is in the audience, applauding and looking lifeless. I wonder if that's what happens when they remove your soul."
"Jiang Zemin is smiling. MUST WASH EYEBALLS. Is it me or does he look like a slimmed-down Jabba the Hutt?"
Well....13 or so hours later (with a nice Salvadors' Mexican breakfast burrito in my belly) I'm watching my first event, the women's weightlifting (48kg division). A Chinese has won the first of what will be many, many gold medals this time around. I like the Chinese national anthem (far more than my own Star Spangled Banner) but I think I'll get pretty tired of hearing it before the first week is over. It'll be interesting to compare coverage of the Games in China in comparison to the US.
We shall see how it will all play out.
August 10th, 2008 - 10:57
Matt,
The bagpipes were simply part of the music theme during the parade of nations, which included a mix (repeated) of Chinese, Middle Eastern and Latin American tunes.
I don’t recall the French being booed. Actually I am sure the Chinese audiences cheered them. Other than China, the US got the warmest welcome from the Chinese audiences.
August 10th, 2008 - 15:15
Pfeffer,
I was referring to the group of Chinese in the pub with whom I watched the ceremonies. We couldn’t really hear the commentary on TV as it was crowded and noisy. I’m sure the Chinese at the opening ceremonies were respectful of the French- maybe just not the ones who go out to bars in Kunming
August 10th, 2008 - 17:29
Actually, I noticed no untoward behaviour at all on the part of those attending the opening ceremony, and several have commented that the American team got quite a loud cheer.
Pfeffer, the bagpipes very obviously were a part of a music theme, but Matt is not the only one to find it a bizarre choice. Playing Scotland the Brave when Yemen marches in??!?!? Now, I like bagpipes, but they were a little jarring on the night.
And Middle Eastern music? I heard drums that reminded me of home, but when we were finally given a shot of the drumming group they looked African. Still, they were by far the coolest element of the music selection.