Chinese-Britons are among the performers for the rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. Liao Pan / China News Service

Late-night tv viewing no bar for enthusiasts

Many Chinese will be glued to their TV screens watching the London Olympics, despite many of the events taking place in the middle of the night local time.

The Games, of which Beijing was the last host, is the one international sporting event in which the country excels and four year ago China won 100 medals, including 51 golds, more than any other nation.

According to a poll by Ipsos, the leading market research company, published on the eve of the Olympics, 92 percent of Chinese plan to watch the Games - more than any other nation in the world.

This is in contrast to just 61 percent from the host country, the United Kingdom.

Hu Fanlei, a 29-year-old researcher at Peking University People's Hospital, says he will be up every night watching events.

"I will certainly be watching all the basketball games, most of the swimming races and of course badminton hoping that Lin Dan (the 29-year-old Chinese reigning Olympic champion and four-times world champion) wins," he says.

Zhang Yidang, 23, a freelance photographer based in Xi'an, will be looking out for Chinese Olympics stars like Liu Xiang, the 110-meter hurdler.

He won gold at Athens in 2004 but limped off the track in 2008, unable to compete on home soil, leaving many Chinese in tears at the last Games.

"I will certainly be paying attention to his performance this time. I am very excited about the Olympics in London because I am a sports fan. I will watch every event," she says.

There has been much speculation as to whether the London opening ceremony, directed by Slumdog Millionaire film director Danny Boyle, could possibly match the spectacular Beijing event four years ago.

It will cost 34 million euros ($41 million) to stage and reflect themes that depict the history and culture of the UK, including Shakespeare and the National Heath Service.

Guo Xiamei, 27, who is studying for a PhD at Ohio State University, says London will have a lot to live up to.

"I still remember that night and all the fireworks. That night is still a dream deep in my heart. Nothing could be like that night in Beijing," she says.

But Mi Zi, 24, a graduate student at Fudan University in Shanghai and herself a part-time shooter, is confident London's opening ceremony will be better than that of Beijing, which was directed by Zhang Yimou of Raise the Red Lantern fame.

"I actually didn't like Beijing's opening ceremony. There were so many performers and it just seemed to be about people. Our government spent too much money. London is known for its art and I think it will be very colorful and interesting," she says.

The big question for many Chinese is whether they will do as well in London as they did at home in terms of the medals tally.

The Chinese are often passionate about their Olympic performers because as a country they often fail to make a mark in other sports, particularly soccer, only having made the finals of one World Cup and then never scoring a goal in South Korea in 2002.

Jiang Zhichao, 30, a civil servant with the Wuxi municipal bureau of sports in Jiangsu province, doesn't believe China can better its 2008 tally.

"I don't think we can win more medals but I think we can still win a lot of them given that the government has invested a lot in sports. It is certainly very good for national morale if we win medals. It is important for Chinese people," he says.

Yang Zhen, 17 and a student at Suqian Middle School in Jiangsu province, believes Chinese athletes may perform better because they will be under less pressure than they were at home.

"As a result, I think they can win more medals. I think success has an impact on the morale of society at large during the Games but afterwards it tends to get forgotten," she says.

Security has been a major issue surrounding the London games. The day after the Games were awarded to London in 2005, the UK capital suffered the 7/7 attacks on its transport network. Recently private security contractor G4S admitted it had failed to recruit sufficient security staff resulting in the drafting in of British armed forces.

According to the Ipsos survey, only 6 percent of Chinese people strongly agree there is a possibility of a terrorist attack, compared to 11 percent from the host nation.

Pan Ying, 41, who works for German company Siemens in Beijing, says she believes the Games will be safe, however.

"I don't see any problems with security. It will be at the highest level in the UK, for sure," she says.

Hu at Peking University People's Hospital has confidence in the UK armed forces, believing them to be among the best in the world.

"The army, navy and air force are all on standby. There is simply no need to worry," he says.

Whether London will be as a big a branding opportunity and commercial success as Beijing remains to be seen.

Sports brand marketing expert Mike Bastin, a researcher at Nottingham University's School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, who was in Beijing in 2008 but will now be watching in the UK, believes London has more commercial potential.

"I think it will provide a bigger platform for Asian brands than Beijing since there is more Western exposure. I think it is also a golden opportunity for China to showcase its companies and their brands," he says.

"The UK's strong sporting history - about the only country where top quality football, cricket and rugby are played - makes it perhaps more attractive for sports brands than Beijing was."

Many Chinese also see London, where many love to shop for designer brands and even buy expensive property, as a more glamorous location for the Olympics than many other capital cities around the world.

"It is a definite plus that the Games are in London. It has so much history and cultural attractions such as the British Museum, Big Ben and it is a very good city to visit," adds Guo at Ohio State University.

But for many, the Olympics is about fulfilling dreams, especially for those watching for the first time.

For four-year-old Yang Chenxi from Huzhou in Zhejiang province, the swimming events remind her of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid.

"It is like a swimming competition for princesses. I want to be a champion in swimming," she says.

Deng Zhangyu, Su Zhou, Sun Ye and Yang Yang contributed to this story.

andrewmoody@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/27/2012 page3)