Chinese ridicule London's part in Olympic Closing Ceremony

Chinese press and bloggers have been less than favourable about London's contribution to Beijing's Olympic closing ceremony – criticising contributions from the London Mayor Boris Johnson and David Beckham.

As the torch was put out in the "Bird's Nest" stadium, one blogger described Mr Johnson as "arrogant, rude and disrespectful" when he accepted the Olympic flag. There were mixed opinions too about the eight-minute cameo performance featuring a London bus, Beckham, the singer Leona Lewis, Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page, dancers and singers.

The Titan Sports Daily contrasted the "neatness" of the Chinese performers with the "outrageous outfits" worn by the Britons. Unlike the Chinese custom which tends not to reveal their weakness to the outsiders, "the British seem to like to laugh about their stupidity in a funny way", it said.

"During the performance, when the London bus pulled over, all the passengers waiting for the bus rushed into the door at the same time, which truly damaged the British image," it added. In the run-up to the Games, Beijing officials had run a campaign to "civilise" the city's inhabitants, teaching them of the importance of queuing in Western culture.

It also complained that Lewis and Page were not A-list celebrities. "Unfortunately, the singer and Jimmy Page are absolutely not famous enough to be known or recognised by millions of the Chinese audiences. As for David Beckham, he was supposed to kick the football towards the red circle in the centre of the 'Bird's Nest'. In the end, just like any of his penalties at a football match, he totally missed it. He kicked the ball to the left and it dropped in the crowd, then was picked up by a lucky Chinese volunteer who would not let go of the ball."

The Daily First praised the use of a red London bus, but questioned whether the performance had anything to do with sport or the Olympic Games. Mr Johnson was also criticised for accepting the Olympic flag with one hand only."

Source: The Independent 17/08/08


I must confess that I myself was very disappointed with the 8 minutes British welcome to the Olympic Games of 2012, though not entirely for the reasons given in this article. I thought that Boris Johnson receiving the Olympic flag with one hand was a sign of his strength, much as the commentators praised Chris Hoy when he managed to carry the British flag in one hand briefly during the opening parade. The London bus was a good symbol to use for London and George Beckham symbolised British sport, while the umbrellas were a sign of British weather. However, I couldn't see that any of the rest had any real meaning as an advert for Britain and I certainly couldn't see the whole 8 minute presentation as a compelling invitation/reason to visit Britain in 2012. It was an opportunity missed as far as I was concerned. What did you think?

Gospels to be specially printed for the Olympics

I cannot wait to share with you this wonderful good news that reached me by e-mail this morning. We will all be adding our prayers to all these plans to spread the Good News at the Olympics as the eyes and ears of the world turn to Beijing in a few weeks' time. I am so delighted!

"Bibles and Scripture booklets will be available to athletes in the Olympic village in Beijing this summer, despite rumours that Bibles would be banned at the games. In a major breakthrough, Chinese authorities have given the go-ahead for the printing and distribution of:

- 50,000 booklets with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in Chinese and English
- 10,000 Chinese-English Bibles
- 30,000 Chinese-English New Testaments

The Beijing Olympic organising committee has even, for the first time, allowed its logo to be used free of charge on the Gospel portions. The announcement follows controversy earlier this year over whether the Chinese authorities would allow Bibles to be made available at the Olympics.

James Catford, Chief Executive of Bible Society, said, ‘This is a major and exciting opportunity. We are privileged to be able to support the Church in China in the publishing of these Bibles and Scriptures during the Beijing Olympics.’

The booklets will be available to some 16,000 athletes and officials in the Olympic villages in Beijing and five other cities that are hosting events during the summer.

In other developments:

Places of worship have been set up within the Olympic village to provide religious services to athletes.
The Church in Beijing has been asked to provide people to staff the chapel and conduct worship services and prayers.
Please share this news with your church and friends – and please pray:

Thank God for this unique opportunity to make the Bible available in a country where, only 40 years ago, the Bible was banned.
Pray that people from across the world would encounter the Bible’s life-changing message through the Scriptures available at the Olympics.
Pray for those staffing the Olympic village chapel, that they would be powerful witnesses for God’s embracing love.
Pray for the Bible Society staff who have been working hard to create this opportunity, for continued energy, creativity and passion in their work.
To join Bible Society in supporting the printing of Scriptures at the Olympics,
visit www.biblesociety.org.uk/chinaolympics

Chinese babies named 'Olympic Games'

Chinese children are often named after virtues or events.
More than 4,000 children in China have been given the name Aoyun, meaning Olympic Games, in the past 15 years.

The rise in popularity of the name is seen as a sign of support for the Games being staged in August in Beijing. Officials in charge of identity cards say that more than 92% of the 4,104 registered Aoyuns are boys.

It is not uncommon for Chinese children to be given names of common events and popular slogans - such as Defend China, Build the Nation and Space Travel.

There are 290,798 registered Civilisations.

The first surge in Aoyuns came in 1992, when China applied to host to the 2000 Games. About 680 Aoyuns were registered at the time.

In 2002 another 553 Aoyuns were named, after China was chosen to host the 2008 Games.

The BBC's Chinese service says that in recent weeks babies have also been given names such as Hope for Sichuan, to show solidarity with earthquake victims.

Source: BBC World News Channel 11th june 2008

PRAYER CALL AS OLYMPIC TORCH ARRIVES

The Methodist Church has urged British Christians to pray for marginalised groups in Tibet and China as security arrangements are made for Sunday’s Olympic torch handover in London. ‘The situation in Tibet is very grave and it is clear that there have been human rights violations,’ said Christine Elliott, Methodist secretary for External Relationships, previously its Asia and Pacific secretary. David Fung, senior steward at Birmingham Chinese Methodist Church, said he was ‘deeply sorry for the Tibetan sufferings’. Nevertheless, he supported the Beijing Olympic Games and prayed for it to be an opportunity ‘to channel both friendship and the Gospel into the hearts and minds of the people there’.

Source: Methodist Recorder (3/4)