An 800,000-strong army of students has been drilled like soldiers to provide "atmosphere" at the Games, following concerns that traditionally reserved Chinese spectators might not enter into the full spirit of the event.
A further 448 volunteers have been positioned inside the venues to orchestrate the crowd's reactions. They were in evidence at Friday's opening ceremony, showing the 91,000 spectators when to applaud and cheer.
Yesterday, some of the students made their Olympic debuts. They could be seen and heard chanting "Jiayou Zhongguo", or "Let's Go China", and "Jiayou Aoyunhui" – "Let's Go Olympics" – in unison during the cycling road race.
Up to a million Games tickets have been distributed to students across China at the super-low price of 10 yuan (75p). In return, the students have had to learn the official four-step Olympic cheer.
It starts with a double clap and a chant of "Olympics", moves on to a thumbs-up with arms pointing skywards and a chant of "Let's Go", then another double clap and a cheer of "China", and finally fists are punched in the air to a shout of "Let's Go".
The chant, devised by the spiritual civilisation development office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the ministry of education and the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee (Bocog), was taught to the students in the past two months. Bocog also brought in cheerleaders from the New England Patriots American Football team, to teach US-style razzamatazz to the 600 volunteers who will cheerlead at beach volleyball and basketball events.
Organised cheering is yet more evidence of Beijing's determination to micro-manage every aspect of the Olympics, although officials do not see it that way.
"It creates a great atmosphere in the stadium for the athletes and heightens the interaction with the audience," said Wang Hui, Bocog's publicity chief.
But some Chinese online commentators have wondered whether any chant devised by the CCP, which is better known for dour slogans such as "Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics", can be classified as fun.
Some foreign fans in Beijing
have also been disappointed with the lack of spontaneity in evidence.
"The opening ceremony was too cold and technical for me," said Alex Nunuef, a lawyer from Brazil.
Nick Plastow, an operations manager from Harrow, London, said: "It wasn't as good as Sydney and Athens. But the Chinese aren't outwardly gregarious so you expect it to be a bit formal."
Chinese officialdom is being blamed by some for
a subdued atmosphere. National flags larger than 1m by 2m, patriotic banners, musical instruments and babies are banned from venues. Bocog insists its rules are in line with the Olympic charter. But the lack of flexibility reflects Beijing's obsession with hosting a perfect Games, even if it squeezes the life out of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment