 Udderly amazing Federer
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-20 08:38 Tennis legend Roger Federer finally won a gold medal in doubles in Beijing - where locals have been calling him "Milk Cow" (Nainiu, pictured above and top). The website qq.com said Federer didn't understand his Chinese nickname but was grateful to add a gold medal to his collection of trophies. The former No 1 is called Milk Cow in China because he was once given a 800kg cow by his countrymen, the Swiss, after winning his first Grand Slam tournament. Plum pickings Fruit pickers in Pujiang county, Zhejiang province, have created a Five Olympic Rings pattern and the Chinese characters for "Come on, China" out of 888 plums (below). Pujiang county is the "home of peach-shaped plums" and the fruit pickers completed their work celebrating the Games in just an hour and a half. Sewing it up for China Aman Guli has embroidered a 60cm by 110cm picture of the Great Wall, along with the Beijing Olympics logo and Five Rings. Guli, from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, used 56 differently colored silk threads to represent the 56 ethnic groups in China, according to Chinanews.com. Bite me Olympic champions traditionally "bite" their medals on the podium. It is a time-honored tradition that is said to go back to the days when people would bite their coins to test if they were real gold. But the Qianlong.com has come up with an alternative explanation. They asked some "experts" about the ritual and according to them Olympians bite their medals out of instinct. The taste of metal is relaxing, they argued, and this is why athletes bite their medals. China's stock is high China's gold medal count is in the 40s and according to the money men this represents a stock market bubble. China Youth Daily is saying investors are describing winning medals in terms of the stock market. The Chinese soccer team is a bear market and hurdler Liu Xiang is a case of suspended trading. Village green credentials An environmental protection corner in the commercial and cultural center of the Athlete's Village has proven popular with Olympians. In an effort to encourage green thinking, athletes can exchange five used coke bottles for an environmental T-shirt. In 17 days more than 8,000 athletes and staffers in the Village have participated in the activity. Classes on environmentalism have also been run, according to sports.qq.com. (China Daily 08/20/2008 page28) |
