Fizzling Torch, but Fired up Chinese

With the 2008 Beijing Olympics just around the corner, all of China prepares itself to meet the rest of the world. Here in Kunming, the local people alread live with a fairly healthy sized chunk of the world, so they have embraced the enthusiasm of these Games whole-heartedly. Yesterday, the Olympic torch made its way to Kunming, and had been planned to travel through the entirety of the city. However, because of recent events in China and around the world, the torch's planned route found itself altered at the last moment, leaving it relatively un-viewed. What was supposed to have been a nearly eight hour jaunt, twisting and turning through the city streets ended up being a four hour sprint down some of Kunming's least traveled highways on the outskirts of town. What it meant for me and the locals is that we only saw the torch on television. Some lucky people who happened to be standing around saw it, but mostly it found its way to its destination with very little fanfare.

Along the originally planned route, giant flower murals were created to welcome the Olympics to China and Kunming. this enormous display of flowers shows the Olympic rings and also encourages China as the host and as competitors. Many people walked around in t-shirts with the slogan, "Zhongguo, Jia You!" (meaning, "China, let's go!" essentially) or some printed in English, "I 'heart' China". All along the proposed route, people sat with their flags, shirts, and stickered faces, waiting for the torch that never arrived.

While the expected celebration of the torch passing through town never really materialized, this group of college students created a party of their own: a make-shift parade of Chinese flags, one bit Olympic flag, and thunderous cheers of "Zhongguo, Jia You!" This small cavalcade slowed down traffic a little bit, but not nearly as much as the Chinese officials feared. During celebrations in Wuhan, the traffic of that city came to a near stand-still. This type of disruption, coupled with world-wide demonstrations concerning Tibet, caused the local officials to change the intended route of the torch. Sadly, for all the people of Kunming, including its foreign residence, this was probably the one opportunity to really feel a part of the Olympic spirit. And because of uninformed demonstrations in foreign countries, as well as just loads of national pride, Kunming never received the opportunity to participate in the world's largest sporting event.
By 13.00h, many tired, parched faces, many with peeling, Chinese-flag, stickers on their cheeks and foreheads, wilted in the afternoon sun. I had spent the morning at school organizing my room for next year and found out that I had missed my chance to see the elusive torch. So along with a few other staff members, I sat in a local restaurant eating as these weary, wizened faces trudged by with drooping flags. Many tried to find a place to eat, quickly filling up all the restaurants along the street. Our own eatery appeared to be overwhelmed by the inundation of people, as the servers hurried from kitchen to table and back again. As the picture above shows (somewhat blurrily), the people who missed the torch displayed their frustration on their faces and in their body language.
As part of the build-up to the torches appearance in Kunming, the downtown area of Kunming found itself jammed with people during the weekend leading up to the event. This same weekend also included the annual Zhong Zi Tian--a celebration for a famous Chinese poet during which people each a dish called zhong zi, a sticky-rice cake with a variety of fillings. Because this is a national celebration, all the students had been released from school for the weekend. Therefore, the streets ran red with youth ranging from five to twenty-five years old carrying national flags.

Many shops held promotions to honor the torches passing. At the Adidas shop downtown, Suli and I posed with a couple of the FuWa (Friendlies--the official mascots of the Olympics). I cannot remember which Friendly is which, but I do remember for what their name stand. The five friendlies are Bei bei, Jing jing, Huan huan, Yin yin, and Ni ni. Each one represents some traditional symbol of China (I think Jing jing is the panda, Huan huan is fire, and I forget the rest). I do remember that when you put them all together--Beijing huanyin ni--they say, "Beijing welcomes you." They are cute little figures and the one I received a picture with gave me a big hug after the photo.
While I will not be going to Beijing to view any of the events--too crowded, too expensive, to difficult, and during school--there can be little doubt that the country has embraced the coming event. And after a brutal winter (2008), the Tibet issues, and the Si'chuan earthquake, the Olympic Games may be just the event this country needs in order to read something positive in the media, and to display just how proud the Chinese are to be Chinese.