05:30 pm
Olymp-hip-hop
I love this video.
According to Tim Johnson at McClatchey’s China Rises blog,
Mr. Sun… [was] outside the Water Cube aquatics center yesterday…singing and dancing for onlookers. Sun, it turns out, is a 30-year-old pedicab operator from Hangzhou who pedaled all the way to Beijing for the Olympics. He began his journey a year ago and arrived last month after passing through 45 cities, including Shanghai, Qingdao and Tianjin. [Emphasis added]
So I just looked it up on The Googles and Hangzhou is 1,061 miles from Beijing. And that distance doesn’t take into account all the side trips he mentions. That’s a lot of cycling.
I wonder if he will stay in Beijing after the Olympics are over, or return home? I wonder if he’s “legal,” in the sense that he’s allowed to be there? Don’t the ChiComs still have an internal passport system? (Please disabuse me of this if I’m mistaken.)
As I (and many others) continue to (rightfully) pound the ChiComs for their crackdown on dissent, inept attempts to make the air cleaner, and other sins, we should not forget that for many Chinese, the Olympics are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For some, it’s a chance for their country to show off to the world. For others, it’s an opportunity to make money.
And given the sterility, repression, and utter regimentation of these games, isn’t it nice to see some spontaneity? We could use more of these kinds of moments.
Hat tip: China Rises