An olympics question

[Karthak]

My question is simple. Why are the next olympics going to be held in the worlds largest dictatorship?

[Lisa M]

So that everyone can see just how bad of a dictatorship it is, probably.

[MeneerDijk]

Where were the olympics held in 1936? oh yeah, NAZI GERMANY!

I'm not sure why the olympic committee chose for China. In a perfect world i'd recon they just chose the best candidate for the job while keeping sports and politics far apart like it should be. But it probably comes down to money... and lots of it.

[Candyvan Stan]

Remember how one of the reasons the modern Olympics started was to improve the relationship among countries.

[Fabulous]

So that everyone can see just how bad of a dictatorship it is, probably.
China's even called for a "SPECIAL HOLIDAY" to try to make all citizens of Beijing stay home while the events are going on.

[andrewt]

it's also a horrible place to be outside....
i can't imagine how much it's going to suck for the marathoners and triathletes to be out in that smog and pure crap.
Beijing is known to induce asthma on people that wouldn't have normally had it (forcing outbreaks).
People that live there find themselves blowing their nose and just seeing black stuff come out.

Yahhhhh, sucks.

[Roxie]

excellent take-out.

[Kaji]

Why'd they hold them in Moscow in 1980?

[Kenshin]

Now I'm starting to wonder about my brothers' decision to go to China for the Olympics next year... and OMG, it's so expensive...X_X
At least we get to travel somewhere other than the U.S. or Europe, but... eh, not that sure anymore.

[volomavi]

Why'd they hold them in Moscow in 1980?

To spread the communismz.

[Roxie]

For the Vodka?

[Fabulous]

Mmmm...vodka.

What do the Chinese have to offer that could possibly match that?

[Roxie]

...Sake?

[Masa the Masta]

...Sake?

Nah, Tsingtao. I like it. Then again, people think I have terrible taste in alcohol because I don't drink as much as my peers do.

[Roxie]

is that the carbonated Sake?

[Buckwheat]

They could have made a much worse choice. Like doing it in Atlanta again.

[Roxie]

stop hating.

[Candyvan Stan]

They could have made a much worse choice. Like doing it in Atlanta again.

The idea alone is horrifying.

I hope they do it in Amsterdam again sometime.

[xtine]

Tsingtao = popular Chinese beer

[Mechs]

CHICAGO 2016!!!!!!

It would rock if it came to Chicago. And it's in Chica to be fair to the chinese and so they don't get angered and enslave the rest of the earth....

[Roxie]

The idea alone is horrifying.

I hope they do it in Amsterdam again sometime.
haters..

[belladonna]

sake is japanese, and why would you carbonate rice wine? and tsingtao is as xtine a highly popular chinese beer.

[Roxie]

cause I went to a place to have sushi and they gave it to me and said it was Chinese.

I figure China's got plenty of fucking rice. Why can't they have sake too?

[Buckwheat]

They have it. It's just not popular. They usually drank plum wine in the old days.

[belladonna]

i'm sorry, i read the history section in cookbooks... it was invented in japan, but they share a lot of things - there is the large possibilty that is was taken over there and there was a change in the recipe

[NERD]

Sake is literally the Japanese way of reading the Chinese character for alcoholic beverage 酒. Not to mention the Japanese rice wine (terrible name as rice wine is not made in the same process as wine, but more like the process of beer) is different from Chinese rice wine. I mean, due to Japanese cuisine and restaurants becoming more popular in China, I'm sure there are sake as well, but in no way is it the typical alcoholic beverage in China.

[xtine]

Sake is just Asian alcohol, there are various versions. Sake kanji is just literally "alcohol."

For some serious Chinese alcohol, try some Moutai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moutai)!

[belladonna]

y'all explained it better than i could either way. i knew that osake was alcohol... but yeah... thank you

[Radiance]

haters..

I concur, haters... In related news, I just got back from a rafting trip in which I rafted down the white water course they used in the 96 Olympics. Three class five rapids and a bunch of border line class four/fives. Ocooe river in Ducktown, TN. Guess we didn't have strong enough rivers for it here in Georgia. It was an awesome experience and I can't wait to try some class six and sevens but that takes a trip to West Virginia.

[Trump]

I love white water rafting. I went down part of that river (probably not the part you did) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Radiance]

I did the full combined trip of the upper and middle Ocoee. The upper river had bigger rapids, which I wanted to do just to be able to say I did it. They were big rapids that took a lot to get us through it, just about every other boat had people fall out and have to be rescued but my group (my friends) powered through them really well.

The middle section of the Ocoee has a lot of smaller class three to four rapids which are packed in a lot of cases back to back and are an awesome experience. By far a much more enjoyable section of the river just to have a blast. This is the section I would recommend to anyone that wants to have a great experience.

[Plekto]

The thing, though, is that the Communism in China is wearing thin. If they cracked down on the people hard, they would find themselves on the streets in short order. They want their TVs and designer clothes and cars and... They've become a nation of consumers. So it's not as bad politically as it seems. Of course, it's still a cesspool lately due to the lack of controls and policies towards their industries and businesses. (using car exhaust to dry tea leaves, bad food, lead paint...) But politically, there's really nothing to worry about as far as the Olympics are concerned.

My guess is that they are thinking that the more money they force China to spend into its economy and the more money they get from tourists, the more it solidifies consumerism in China.

P.S. for whitewater, my vote goes to Colorado. Awesome time.

[SlickWilly440]

My question is simple. Why are the next olympics going to be held in the worlds largest dictatorship?

Oh come on, living in China under a communism government can't be that bad. Had you ever lived in China? It's probably not as bad as they say.

Hanenosuke, how is life in China? Do you hate the government so much, you wish it became democratic?

[Fabulous]

I figure China's got plenty of fucking rice.
Point taken. Rice wins out.
CASE CLOSED. :watson:

[Kaji]

For some serious Chinese alcohol, try some Moutai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moutai)!

My Judo instructor in Japan gave me a bottle as a gift after Christmas while I was studying overseas. Saved it for a year or two before I decided to pop it open to share with some friends back home. It was quite fun watching them chug it and ask why the hell I said it was so nasty (as it does smell quite sweet), until all of a sudden the aftertaste hit and they begged for mercy...hehehe...

[Pierrot le Fou]

Chinese Liquor is the ancient world's 8th wonder. Any civilization that could consume that should, by all indications, be extinct.

[Plekto]

Just goes to show you how impossible to get rid of they are... That addage about "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" at work. ;)

2000 years and counting. I think China will still be there long after the U.S. is a memory.

[ZaichikArky]

It's all a matter of world prestige, really.

In Japanese history class, we studied the 1960 Tokyo olympics. It's a long story, but basically Tokyo wasn't ready to host the Olympics after WWII, but since the Olympics had been taken away from them during the war among other reasons, it was decided that Tokyo be a good place to show the world the progress Japan made. So Tokyo got cleaned up a LOT with more modern sewage, etc.

China is becoming a huge economy. It's a matter of national pride for a country to host the Olympics. They get lots of money and can show the world they're awesome and all that. Of course it won't solve all the pollution problems however I agree with the decision to hold the Olympics there other than a Western Country because it's a huge deal for China .

I don't think it really will be different from any other Olympics, but maybe it might get people all over the world to see more how powerful and influential China is.

[belladonna]

well, now all of the big five in the un excepting the UK have hosted

[Trump]

Well, the problem I have with China hosting it is how they are working travel arrangements and everything. From what I understand, you cannot just get hotels accommodations for the event you want to see, you have to rent a room for the entire Olympics. And who is actually going to see the money? The same people who get all the other money. It feels like it is just going to make the rich richer.