Jenny Zhu

Albeit an economic slowdown and a series of food scares, there is also non-stop festivities in China. This time, it’s a sports competition for farmers, i.e. 农运会/nong2 yun4 hui4. Not only are all the contestants farmers, the events are also inspired by agricultural life such as the planting race you see in the clip. Other events include shot put (instead of a piece of […]

China’s spacecraft Shenzhou VII,神州七号 blasted off last night, carrying 3 taikongnauts ( a term if I remember correctly was coined 5 years ago when China sent its first astronaut to space. Taikong/太空 means space). On this mission, one of the taikongnauts will conduct China’s first space walk. Therefore, this mission has been marked with extraordinay […]

The shocking revelations about dairy products keep rolling out in China. The contaminated baby formula produced by a major local brand, 三鹿/San Lu has caused tens of thousands of babies to have liver stones, and resulted in three deaths. The chemical melamine which makes milk appear rich in protein during quality tests is the culprit. This week, nationwide tests further reveal that most of China’s […]

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In the midst of a million significant events around the globe, today also marks the inaugural episode of Chinese Soundbites, a new weekly podcast about buzzwords in China. Amber and myself host the show. It’s a collaboration between ChinesePod and Shanghaiist, a massively popular blog about life and survival in Shanghai.
Of course, nothing is more […]

While conspiracy theorists spin up claims like Liu Xiang is bought by betting agencies,  most people’s hearts go wholeheartedly to him. Commercials featuring Liu Xiang shifted gear from the full on cheer campaign to another kind of 加油 to give Liu Xiang moral support.
Why is Liu Xiang such a huge deal to us? (I love this guy!!!) Well, not only because of his winning performance, […]

 
China’s stellar performance at the Olympics has surprised itself. But what the nation has anticipated for the most is 刘翔/Liu Xiang, the defending champion of men’s 110 meter hurdles. He is China’s Michael Phelps if you will. Being the country’s first man to ever win an Olympic gold. But today, his dream and that of an entire nation came […]

Honor used to be the primary drive for athletes in China. Of course there were material benefits such as housing and slightly higher salaries. But glorifying the motherland was the key motivation for sports professionals.
How things have changed. Now, Chinese Olympic gold medalists are rewarded gold, literally. A gold medalist will receive at least RMB3 […]

 
华天/Hua Tian, the 18-year-old rider might be the most uncharacteristic athlete in the Chinese delegation. Watching 3 seconds of the clip, you’d agree. He is China’s first athlete to compete in Olympic equestrain. But even more attention grabbing is his background. Hua Tian is mixed, born to Chinese father and British mother (who speaks Chinese with a seasoned Beijing accent). He started riding as a kid under his mom’s influence. […]

 
Mesmerised, in awe, yawning despite trying to suppress it as the 203rd country entered the stadium, rejuvenated, and extremely excited albeit sleepy. Here is a chain of emotions I experienced when watching the Opening Ceremony.  
The theme was China’s past, present and future, presented on a gigantic Chinese painting paper scrolling out. The ancient civilisation was prominently featured. China’s Four Great Inventions/四大发明/si4 da4 fa1 ming2 was befitting showcased in quite an […]

 
How to promote the Chinese language? By setting up a cultural corner in the Olympic village where volunteers teach athletes 你好 or making delegations enter the stadium not in alphabetical order, but according to the order of the simplified Chinese characters. The organisers announced this yesterday. I’m not exactly sure what it means. But I assume it refers […]