N-B-A

It is probably no surprise that the NBA is very, very popular in China (thank you Yao Ming). What is a surprise is the lengths Chinese people have to go to to watch games. The recent NBA playoffs have been banned from being shown on CCTV- China's state-owned television provider- and those are the only channels you can get unless you have illegal satellite. Reason being, allegedly, a Laker player sent around a petition to officially condemn China for their role in Rwanda. Hm, first Sharon Stone now this. LA is not boosting its profile with the Chinese government. So watching a game means waiting for them to download from copyright-infringing internet sources.

However despite these lengths the Chinese people love their basketball. Some of the best conversations I've had have been with cabbies and my security guards about the sport. Just mention one of the trifecta: NBA, Yao Ming or Kobe, and you've got an instant friend. Just last night all the guards had gathered outside my building and were chatting when I got home from watching the replay of Lakers-Celtics game3. I was in a good mood since the Lake-show FINALLY won one and decided to indulge a little. I told them I was watching NBA (pronounced by drawing each letter out a bit) and Kobe (or Ke-be). A collective "Ohhhhhhh" was released from the group and immediately the rambling off of every NBA name known began. I have to say, Kobe is probably more popular than Yao. I see so many Kobe jerseys and Laker shorts I could be in LA (kind of...not really). And don't even bother asking if Yao is going to play in the Olympics despite his injury. It's a non-issue. He WILL play. The highlight of my conversation last night was when one especially enthusiastic guard exclaimed that he likes Tracy McGrady. Now I don't know too much about basketball outside the Lakers so I searched for TMac and discovered he was on the Rockets. This pretty much cemented my belief that no matter who you are if you play for the Rockets (Yao Ming's team), you've got an instant 1.4billion person fan base!

Go Lakers!!

New Videos!

Here are a couple treats.

This first clip is during my parents' recent trip when we traveled south to Xishuangbanna. My Dad had some fun sharing some very useful American idiosyncrasies.



And here is a recent rush-hour metro trip my friend Katie and I took while she was visiting Shanghai. To say it got a little crowded is a bit of an understatement and just when you thought they couldn't cram in any more people...they did. I couldn't really move my hand very far to get the whole scene but I think you get the picture.