August 13, 2008

Beijing CHINA

At 8:30 a.m. I flagged down a taxi to take Anshuo and I to the Chinese National Museum, which houses the greatest collection of treasures in mainland China. (The National Museum in Taiwan is widely viewed as having greater historical artifacts as the aristocrats and government leaders took everything with them when they fled to the island, narrowly evading Mao's Communists in 1949.) Unfortunately, there was a bit of unwanted excitement to start off the day (there always is!) as Anshuo left his mobile phone in the taxi, and we spent the next hour figuring out a way to get it back.

Joining us at the museum was XinLei, the Singaporean friend I met with the night before. By far the greatest asset to the tour of the museum was Anshuo, who is as pure a Chinese as one will ever meet. He grew up with his grandfather until he was 10 or so, at which time he moved to the United States to be with his parents, but his grandfather must have gone to great lengths to ensure he received a first-class education. Later in the morning, Abu (Germany) and Mika (China) joined us at the museum, and we spent about 2.5 hours in all touring the exhibitions - finishing only 2/5 the museum.

Afterward, XinLei caught a taxi to the train station where she was meeting friends for a couple of football matches in Tianjin later in the evening. The rest of us hopped in a different taxi to grab lunch at a famous Peking Duck restaurant near CHANG'AN JI (literally: "Long Peace Street".) The best Peking Duck restaurants were already booked, so we settled on a newer restaurant where the wait for Peking Duck was "only" one hour. In the mean time, we ordered beer and a variety of dishes. By the time the duck was brought to our table we had finished eating and we decided to forgo it, which was fine by the restaurant because they had so many other customers who were waiting on the same dish.

Anshuo and I said goodbye to Abu and Mika as we headed off for Beijing's Worker's Stadium, which is where this evenings football matches between the United States-Nigeria and Argentina-Serbia were being held. We each purchased American flags outside the stadium (both of us already had Chinese flags), and we proceeded to wrap ourselves in them - I had the American flag around my shoulders while I had the Chinese flag spread in my arms, while Anshuo was vice-versa.

The best part was when I started cheering, "MEIGUO JIA YOU!" (literally, "Add oil America!," meaning Go America!), to which Anshuo yelled "ZHONGGUO JIA YOU" ("Add oil China!"), and then we would yell in unison, "AU YUIN JIA YOU!" (Go Olympics!) This resulted in hundreds of other Chinese fans cheering us on and asking for photographs, which we kindly agreed to. This went on for about 15 minutes, which was more than long enough for us to both be covered in sweat and have posed in God-knows-how-many photographs, but then Chinese police officers approached us menacingly. They were very angry and although I could not follow all their Mandarin, I heard them tell us "to stop causing trouble or we would find ourselves in trouble." They scolded Anshuo for 5 minutes afterward, but since all the Chinese supported us they eventually left us alone and we continued posing for more pictures.

In my mind, this is what the Olympics are all about: friends from across the world cheering on their countries, but only in the sense that it is part of a greater harmony in terms of international unity. Anshuo is Chinese, I am American, but we both love each other's countries, and this is one of the most powerful differences between my generation and generations of the past. This globalizing effect is the key to greater global development and cooperation, and in no way is it better exemplified than in the Olympics. This is why I tried so hard to make it to Beijing for this capstone event, and it is also why I was not willing to let a few stubborn police get in my way.

Our tickets were near the corner flag in the mid-level of the stadium, which was really better than I could have expected because the whole pitch was within easy eyesight. Fortunately, beer was only 5-8 rmb within the stadium (7rmb=1USD), so we were fully hydrated for the evening. The United States match kicked off at 5:00 p.m. with a packed stadium of 52,000 (primarily Chinese) fans. Most of the fans had no idea who to cheer for, and changed their cheering depending upon who was doing the attacking or who was already cheering the loudest. As there were far more Americans at the match than Nigerians, the fans were mostly backing the US for the match.

Strangely, in only the 3rd minute of play a US player received his marching orders with a straight red card. I did not see the incident, and controversial replays are never shown in China for fear of unrest, so no one knew what happened. As it was already a US free-kick, presumably the player committed some kind of retaliatory act. (I would later take the same flight home as the US men's soccer team, and even they said they did not know exactly what happened, but that there was a kind of very minor brush up and a Nigerian player went to ground - the next thing they knew, out came the red card.)

After that, the game was a bit dull as the United States was back defending while the Nigerians had all day to break them down. The first goal came in the 45th minute of the first half when a great turn and cross by a Nigerian striker put the US one down at half-time. I was a little disappointed that all the Chinese fans cheered on the goal so vehemently, but it was understandable: they were here to see action, and did not really care who provided it.

The game improved in the second half as the US played aggressively, but another goal basically put the game out of reach. I was proud when the US fought hard for the final 30 minutes, even pulling back one goal before striking the cross bar with another shot, but in the end it was not to be: Nigeria won 2-1, knocking the United States out of the tournament.

One thing that stuck with me after the game was how the US players simply shook each other's hands and left the field without jogging over to thank the fans. Whereas the Nigerian team was sure to do so, and several players even shook hands with fans, the US players returned straight to the dressing room. I understand they were disappointed to lose, but at the same time we are supporting them, win or lose, and they really should have acknowledged our cheering and support. I was disappointed, to say the least.

Next up was Argentina and Serbia at 7:45 p.m., although the "big stars" such as Messi, Riquelme, and Aguero were all being rested for this match. I was able to see a host of other up-and-coming Argentinean players, plus world-class stars such as Javier Mascherano, who did not fail to impress. The Argentineans were really in control of the game, and the entire stadium was behind them as they finished the first half with a 1-0 lead - they were the more flamboyant attackers, and are widely tipped to win the tournament. However, the second half saw a massive change in atmosphere as the entire stadium was chanting "MESSI MESSI MESSI," with the hope he would be brought on. The Argentinean coach did not see it fit to comply, so we started turning on them...

At first, there were a few boos here and there (always from Westerners as booing, like clapping, is very new to Chinese.) By the half-way point in the second half, when it became obvious neither Messi nor the other "superstars" would be risked in the game, the entire stadium turned on Argentina - barring the small contingent of Argentinean fans who occupied one section of the upper tier. Every time Argentina had the ball there was booing from everyone in the stadium, and the second Serbia got the ball the stadium erupted in cheers of support. This became the highlight of the game because it was such fun doing ridiculing the strong Argentinean side while supporting the Serbians. I doubt there are more than 50 Serbian fans in all of Beijing for this Olympics, but their team became one of the most popular on this particular night.

Below is video of a blocked penalty kick and the crowd's celebrating the Argentine miss... It is really quite funny to watch.

After the game, which Argentina won, Anshuo and I caught a train to eat more Sichuan GONG BAO JI DING for my last Asian meal. The restaurant we liked was closed, but one of the waitresses gave us directions to another place that we ran to, arriving just before its 11:00 p.m. closing time. Although the standard was not the best, no meal is complete in China without this delicious dish.

We rode the trains home later in the evening, packing our stuff away and calling a taxi driver to take me to the airport at 8:00 a.m. the following morning. Thus ended my final day in Asia after 2.5 years. Having been able to experience and participate in the Olympic spirit, it was a very proper way to conclude this chapter of my life.