my take on China and the Olympics

I started writing a long post about my thoughts on the Olympics.... I was going to tell you how I wasn't surprised by any of it: the destruction of the Hutongs, the Internet control, the lip-syncing bait and switch, the fake fireworks, the gymnasts that look like they are 8 and 10, never mind 14..... I tell you none of it surprised me, because A) every country does this to some extent (the homeless pushed out  of Atlanta, Pavarotti in Turin, fake citizenship papers... please, it's all be done before)

I'm am not saying any of it is right. My daughters watched the opening ceremonies in awe: the sheer manpower behind the drums, that cool pixel/type display, the unbelievable dancers..... How do I tell them that little girl they so admired wasn't in fact signing... what I'm saying is I'm NOT SURPRISED. It's China, it's a communist country, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?

But I can tell you that my girls are watching with pride. They love to point out all the Chinese girls on the screen. They are getting a kick out of the sports too, (inexplicably, their favorite is weight lifting), but getting to see China, all the side-reports about life in China, just even the background scenery, they are thrilled. And I know that the people of China are proud too.

I was trying to think of a way to make you understand how I felt, and then, tonight, on the news, Brian Williams did it better than I ever could. Watch this report, watch the young lady, watch how her voice shakes....

THAT is why I'm proud of China and what they are doing. Certainly, it is FAR, FAR from perfect. Like I said it's a COMMUNIST country. But they have come so, so far in the last 35 years. Look at the pride in that young woman's eyes and heart. She is so proud of what her country has managed to do. There was another report in the same news cast, about the young people of China coming together to give back after the earthquake. It asked the question what would happen in the future in China with such an engaged generation, willing to give back and work for change. THAT is why I'm proud and excited for these Olympics. Because it's progress, it's change, it's a huge move forward.

Our guide during our first trip to China in 2005 told me, point blank, that she didn't believe the massacre at Tiananmen had happened, that it was Western fabrication. This was an college-educated woman in her late 20s who was in DAILY contact with foreigners and had access to information that most average Chinese didn't, yet she was 100% convinced it was a fabrication. I would venture to think that after the Olympics, there would be fewer people like her.

Comments

[Johnny]

Hey, there are Western-"educated" morons who deny the Holocaust ever occurred.

One of our "older" guide's brother was at Tiananmen, so she spoke in a very low voice (on a very quiet bus) about that subject, very briefly.

[meadow]

That brought tears to my eyes watching Bing Ru (?sp) talking about China.

[Beverly]

Our Beijing City Guide in 2005, a Tibetan, kept referring to "Our Great Helmsman" any time she referred to Mao. I couldn't tell if she was serious or not. She is a guide for the mountians and had come across lots of foreigners in her journeys/jobs.

Beverly