+67 the Chinese Olympic opening ceremony was better than the English one, amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Personally, I got really bored for a while during the Chinese ones. I like the English torch better.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My problem with the English torch was that six people lit it, and then that lit up a bunch of little torches that all turned into one big torch. There was no clear one person lights one torch, no big moment like that.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I thought it was really neat that they did it like that.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Was it? I remember them talking about those six athletes age 16-19 lighting it. Did someone else come in at the very end?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I also loved this aspect, I think in the UK the people who hated it were the bookies, hahahaha, since loads of them had to give money back to punters on this one.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I thought that the Chinese one was more entertaining, and had an extreme wow factor. The British ones weren't as good of a show, but they had more depth of meaning.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That's a pretty fair assessment. But from your vote, you clearly think that the wow factor is more important. Fair enough, it's your opinion. At least you identify it as such, as opposed to the Chinese who like to tell people that it's an objective FACT that theirs were better, hahaha

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I am Chinese, but I won't hesitate to point out flaws.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Living in Beijing?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

No, living in Montreal. My parents immigrated from Beijing. I was born in Canada.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Lucky you, then you have the best of both worlds. The fabulous looks, the deep cultural background, but at the same time, freedom, independent thought, and the power to shape your destiny in pretty much any way you want! I apologise if this sounds a bit crass, but I feel like ethnic Chinese not living in China who would deny opinions like the one I made before do so because they really don't know what I'm talking about. Until you've lived it, you never will. I know that sounds really patronizing too, I'm sorry. I don't mean it that way. I really am talking about Chinese living and growing up in mainland China now. They're really different from Chinese who are born and grow up in countries like Canada, UK and the US. And it's REALLY noticeable.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I know what you're talking about. I have tons of close family in China, and on the whole, they do sometimes have a cocky attitude. That being said, it's still a generalization. There are more and more Chinese people nowadays that are completely westernized. They have strong opinions about the government, strong opinions about their futures, and don't hesitate to say that other people are better than them. The Chinese are very patriotic, but as far as I can tell, no Chinese people I know say that China is the best unblinkingly. The super traditional ones, maybe, but none of the new generation.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That's where we differ it seems. Chinese patriotism is very similar to that of the USA, and even the younger generation of today are brought up and educated to believe that patriotism = praising your nation and that Japan sucks, haha. Generalization may be the right word, but at least I'm not basing it on meaningless steretypica media depiction. I've spent a huge portion of my life here and have experienced it first hand. I will add though, that it is mainly the northerners who are guilty of what I'm talking about. It's a weird superiority thing, since the capital is up here. Also, the main point isn't necessarily about that, it's about the way Chinese approach their thinking and reasoning. I use "automaton" because it's true people are taught to believe in a "standard" that exists with everthing, even things that we believe in the west are impossible to standardize becuase they are entirely subjective. Part of "harmonious society" is having GB (guobiao) - a national standard! It's kinda sad.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Just realized this wasn't my post! hahahaha. I use automaton in another post. Never mind...i explained myself just fine

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The Chinese opening ceromony had more 'volunteers'. With so many people at their disposal they had the ability to go a little bigger. I still enjoyed the British opening ceremony, and thought it had great symbolism and a lot of creativity put into it.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I think the British did good seeing as they didn't have a 'money is no problem' stance like China did.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Interesting you bring that up. Many reports in China stated that the main reason China's was obviously superior is because they spent 3 times more on theirs, therefore it was definitely better, and that's all anyone needs to remember, hahahaha. It's hilarious how they think here. It's why all the luxury brands are focussing here, all you have to do to ensure your brand is more successful than others, is to slap a larger price tag on something. It will make the Chinese want it MORE!

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm so angry that the American coverage didn't show the 7/7 tribute dance. Sorry just had to vent that.

by Anonymous 11 years ago