With the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics only a few days away, I’m beginning to get that China buzz.I’ve never really thought about visiting the world’s most populous country — except, maybe, to walk along the Great Wall of China (which can’t be seen from the moon, by the way). There have always been so many other countries — Italy, France, New Zealand, Japan, Iceland — higher on my list of Places To Visit Before I Die.

But with all this media coverage of China — from news segments to magazine covers — I’m getting something along the lines of “Idol Fever.” Except about China.

NBC, the official network of the Summer Games, is going all-out (again) to promote its coverage, from “Countdown to Beijing” on “Today” to a Web site devoted entirely to the Olympics.Time, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have China- and Olympics-related blogs.

There’s no escaping!

And it’s no wonder.

China, so shrouded in its mysterious history, is something of an enigma for Americans. It’s not a culture most of us aren’t familiar with, a language so foreign and complex it’s daunting. It boasts a long and rich history. It stretches across about 3.7 million square miles. And it’s home to about 1.3 billion people.

It can’t help but be fascinating!

Here are some other interesting facts about China and its role in the upcoming Summer Games:

• China stretches more than 3,100 miles across its mainland territory. For the first half of the 20th century, it was divided into five time zones. But after the Communist takeover in 1949, government leaders decided that China should have just one time zone to promote national unity. So when the opening ceremony kicks off the Beijing Olympics on 8-8-08, it will be 8 p.m. across the country.

• Chinese officials expect 6 million people to visit the panda exhibit at the Beijing Zoo between now and the fall. There’s so much interest in the Olympic mascot that eight more bears are being moved from wildlife reserves in western China to the city.

• In preparation for the games, Chinese officials are encouraging locals to study English. Cab drivers and policemen have been ordered to learn 100 common English phrases, and officials hope that as many as 1.5 million Olympic volunteers will pick up some English. The leader of the effort is motivational speaker Li Yang, who claims to have helped at least 50 million Chinese people through his program “Crazy English.”

• There are five colorful Olympic mascots for the Beijing Games, each representing a different Chinese blessing and symbolizing one of five elements of nature: a fish, representing prosperity and the sea; a panda, symbolizing happiness and the forest; a flame for passion and fire; a Tibetan antelope representing health and earth; and a swallow symbolizing good luck and the sky.Source: NBC

But here’s my favorite:The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee recently issued an official guide to cheering:

Step one: Clap twice while shouting, “Olympics!”

Step two: Extend your arms forward, make fists with your thumbs up, and shout, “go!”

Step three: Clap twice while shouting the name of your favored country.

Step four: Extend your arms upwards, fists clenched, while shouting, “go!”

(Or watch this video.)

Can you see why I’ve got the buzz?

Tags: China, hawaii, NBC, Olympics, Summer Games, toth

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 8:25 am and is filed under Hanging out. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.