Absurdity, Allegory and China

As the flap over the audio and video enhancement of the Olympic opening ceremony widens, Zhang Yimou, the director of the spectaculorama, is taking it on the chin. The foundation of his reputation was built upon his portrayal of life in the countryside, showing the world a side of China that the Chinese were not [...]

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It’s 5:05 AM, the day the Olympic Torch comes to my neighborhood in Tianjin. The sound checks have just begun, eight minutes before sunrise. The sound-checker’s voice seems tired, as it should. He was sound-checking until after 10 last night. Perhaps he camped out in the stadium overnight so he wouldn’t have to walk so [...]

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It’s been a bad week here. The Sichuan earthquake is, of course, dominating the news and finally kicking the torch relay out of the spots. In fact, there has been much Chinese criticism of the relay now that it has returned to home territory, with calls for it to be suspended and the money saved [...]

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Ciren Wangma

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I’ve been following the Tale of the Torch on its way up Qomolangma via Reuter’s Countdown to Beijing blog. The biggest story coming from the Everest Base Camp where Nick Mulvenney, David Gray and Mark Chisolm are holed up is that there is no real news to report, though they have been there for a [...]

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It’s official! There are two new names to add to the torch relay games that relate to the ascent-in-progress of Qomolangma (Mt. Everest):

Event name: Beijing Olympics Torch Relay Qomolangma Leg
Torch-carrying team: Chinese Mountaineering Team

No word yet on whether there will be a team to keep the medals’ podiums sacred and inviolate. I just [...]

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For those of you who read this blog, you might be asking (but maybe not), “Why hasn’t he been writing about the torch? He followed it through the heat of Muscat and the heavily secured stadium in Islamabad. But what happened to New Delhi, Bangkok, KL and Jakarta?”
Well, frankly, it was getting boring. Bangkok and [...]

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There seems to be some rumblings of a boycott against all things French, as a response to what is perceived to be unbelievable insults and security violations related to the Olympic flame’s stagger through Paris. Carrefours seems to be the biggest target. I am left to wonder what percentage of goods in any given Carrefour [...]

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Beijing Olympic flame arrives in Pakistani capital: w/photo fm Xinhua (China)
He’s back on the plane. Jiang Xiaoyu stepped off the torch jet in Islamabad holding high the lantern. A few days back I wondered what had become of Jiang, since he seemed to have disappeared after the abbreviated San Francisco leg. Good to see him [...]

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I am unsure what to say about Legs 8 and 9 other than it sounds as if things went without a hitch, according to both Chinese official media and the externally-generated accounts. It must have been warm – the relay through Muskat was an evening jog which included 3 women out of the total [...]

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