Jenny Zhu

Savoring a piece of handmade gouda as I am writing this post, I am compelled to tell the story of Marc de Ruiter. Marc is the owner of Yellow Valley cheese, http://www.cheeseinchina.com/dynamic/ a cheese factory in rural Shanxi/山西  province. I interviewed him for my radio show. 

Marc came to China 10 years ago working with Chinese farmers on various projects to help them improve their life. After helping many acquire better farming techniques, he noticed the village’s cow farmers were left behind. Milk was sold at a very low price and there was an over production. Coming from the land of gouda, what would you do? Marc set up his artisan gouda factory and took it from there.

His cheese has an elegant and homey taste, one that combines traditional techniques, patience and dedication. The velvety texture and uncomplicated good flavors are the best embodiment of someone doing great work and enjoying it.

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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 buzzword-sy than Liu Xiang right now. In a bittersweet fashion, his pullout is the subject of this week’s show.

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.

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 to a sudden and sad ending when he withdrew from the race due to injury.

The 24-year-old has been living under unimaginable pressure, carrying the hope of 1.3 billion people. As the 90,000 spectators sigh collectively when Liu Xiang walked out of the stadium, l hope he will soon walk into a normal life. 刘翔，好样儿的！

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 million RMB (about USD 430,000) in monetary and housing benefits excluding the even more lucrative advertising gigs. If you are Liu Xiang, who wins a gold medal in an event that no Chinese has ever won, the official reward is RMB 1 million.

How does the reward work? Firstly, with multiple bureaucratic layers come with multiple rewards, from the central sports adminisatrion to the local government and local sports administration to even the neighborhood council. Property developer also jump at the chance to giftwrap free housing to athletes both as a reward and advertisement. The most quirky reward though is from a Hongkong tycoon whose fundation gives gold medalists 1 KG of gold and USD 50,000.

Of course, the pride and glory are still there. They just have a golden finish now.

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. He goes to Eton and trains with an Australian coach.   

Hua Tian’s first Olympic attempt ended today when he fell from his horse, but he said he hoped to compete well into his 40’s.  

China is one of the very few countries without foreign born athletes. Our almost non-existent immigration policy makes it virtually impossible for foreigners to become a Chinese citizen. Attitude towards it is also ambivalent. Hope there’d be some positive changes when Huatian turns 40.

What’s the buzz at the Olympics? For millions of China’s avid internet users, it’s the search for hot athletes. While most of us find the 204 countries entering the stadium a tad bit long, many have also put the images into good use: comparing which country’s flag bearer is the hottest and try to identify good looking athletes from different delegations.

This detective work is China’s big internet phenomenon, ‘人肉搜索/ren2 rou4 sou1 suo3′ or man powered search. It’s actually a combination of the web and real life where an everyday person for whatever reason becomes noticed on the web (more often than not for scandalous reasons). It triggers people to mobilise and contribute or find out information about the person through means from real life and the web.

So far, the flag bearer from Mauritius and a number of Scandinavian girls lead the sexiness tally.   

After much procrastination, I’ve finally put my HD camcorder ( image still a bit blurry though) and very amateur editing skills into use. In the second episode of Jenny’s China, we look at the triumph, excitement, competition, and hassle that make up the full Olympic experience.  

Besides team China and President Hu Jintao, I think Vladimir Putin and Kobe Bryant got the loudest cheer from the audience at yesterday’s opening ceremony. What a great illustration of China’s past and present. (the crowds went out for North Korea too)

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 inventive way. The sheer scale was overwhelming: 15,000 anonymous performers. There were a few moments when the camera featured performers heartily smiling and waving as they finished their part of the performance. It’s a celebration of humanity.